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DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
DURHAM, N. C. 


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REVERENCE, AND FAMILY DISCIPLINE. 
LS 


TWO 
SERMONS, 


PREACHED AT PORTSMOUTH, N. H. 


ON 


The Day of the Annual Thanksgiving, November 25, 


AND ON 


The Sabbath following, November 28, 1841. 


BY ANDREW P. PEABODY, 


PASTOR OF THE SOUTH CHURCH, 


PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 


PORTSMOUTH : 
J, W. FOSTER ; J, F. SHORES AND SON. 


5 


These sermons, hastily prepared, and written without any view to publica- 
tion, are published at the request of many who heard them, in the hope, that, 
so far as they may have influence, they may cherish that spirit of domestic 
discipline, subordination and piety, by which alone the rising generation can 


be trained to usefulness and honor in the community, and in the church of 
God. 


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TO 
Cc. W. BREWSTER, PRINTER. 
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SERMON I. 


LEVITICUS XIX. 32. 


“ Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of 
the old man, and fear thy God.” 


Ours, it is to be feared, is an irreverent age and land. The 
number of those, who neither fear God nor regard man, is greatly 
multiplied. The whole providentially arranged system of things 
seems to be reversed ; and, if there is any one motto, which 
might be inscribed on the surface of society as it now is, or as 
modern innovators and radicals would have it, it would be this, 
*‘ The elder shall serve the younger.” Youth no longer hangs 
upon the counsels of age and experience, or deigns to ask of the 
former times ; but, the less one knows of the past, the surer and 
wiser guide for the future is he esteemed by many. Men often 
talk of the past, as if God had never worked, virtue never 
breathed, philanthrophy never lifted a finger, and wisdom never 
given a true response, until now. We hear much concerning the 
dead past; and are bidden to let it bury its dead. Oh how 
soon, if our children are no wiser than ourselves, will they be 
talking the same unmeaning cant about our boasted present ! 

[ by no means profess myself a conservative, in opposition to 
the true spirit of reform. Ido not believe that God means that 


301499 


4 


our race should remain stationary. But I feel equally sure that 
he does not mean that the race shall go backward ; and to pay 
no heed to the lessons of the past is to go backward,—it is to forfeit 
whatever good has been gained by those who have preceded us, 
and to incur the hazard of all their follies, mistakes and failures. 
Indeed, in point of fact, the boasted new truths of the present 
age resemble so nearly exploded errors of former times, that it 
demands the most acute spiritual discernment to tell them apart. 
Thus the last new philosophy is as old as Plato. The theologi- 
cal speculations of Chardon Street are the mere cast clothes of 
the Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit—a sect, which sprang 
into being in the thirteenth, and did not survive the fifteenth 
century. Those, who eat no pleasant bread, and abhor all 
manner of meat, are but reviving a moral code, under which the 
Jewish sect of the Essenes lived and perished. ‘hose, who 
speak evil of dignities, despise governments, denounce law, 
and spurn at all the bulwarks of social order, are only renewing 
phantasies, which the early Quakers conceived, and then outgrew. 
Thus, where the past is unheeded, are men constantly stranding 
their vessels on the very rocks, against which there are multi- 
plied wrecks and blazing beacon-fires to warn them. 

But there is good in the past, as well as evil. And it is our 
appointed work to take that good, and make it better,—to start 
from the results that have been already reached, from the prob- 
lems that have been wrought out, from the maxims and examples 
that have stood the test of time, and thus to go from knowledge 
to knowledge, and from strength to strength. 

The same lack of reverence, that betrays itself with regard to 
the past considered abstractly, is widely manifest with regard to 
all persons both human and divine, that are commended to our 
reverence by age, station or character. Let us look into some 
of the more prominent tokens of this irreverent spirit, and then 
inquire into its source and its remedy. 


5 


First, does it not occur to you as an obvious illustration of this 
spirit, that, in every department of life, political, moral and relig- 
ious, it is the young men that give law to the old? Formerly the 
rule was, that ‘‘ days should speak, and multitude of years should 
teach wisdom.” But now it is young men’s associations and 
conventions, that settle the affairs of the church and the nation, 
and dictate to the fathers what they shall believe, and say, and 
do. Men are now deemed too old to Jead and govern at an age, 
when they used just to begin to be trusted; and there are not 
wanting in some of our states even legislative provisions, by 
which the legal tenure of public office ceases at an age, when a 
vigorous mind is still in its mellow prime, and has some of its 
best years yet to come. 

Now youth and age, both have their virtues ; and both have 
their respective parts to act in the economy of human progress. 
Youth has zeal, and age discretion,—youth courage, and age 
foresight,—youth vigor, and age skill. Age belongs at the helm, 
because it knows where is the safer path of the deep, and where 
are the sunken rocks ; and, with prudence and experience at the 
helm, youth may, asis its wont, keep the vessel under full sail, 
without foundering, though not without now and then a fierce 
blow from an angry wave. But youth now seizes the helm, and 
steers straight for whatever port it would make, heedless of the 
breakers, which lie between, blind to the safer route by which 
they may be doubled. The consequences of this mode of man- 
agement are rash experiments in every thing, plans that explode 
before they are matured, laws that repeal themselves as soon as 
they are enacted, the perpetual tampering with prescription and 
vested right, the spirit of reckless change, for the mere sake of 
change. All these things are to be laid to the charge either of 
the actually young, or of those, who cultivate boyishness of char- 
acter, and prefer a green to a ripe old age. 


301499 


6 


This same irreverent spirit we may trace in the light, in which 
laws and rulers are now regarded. How fast, within the memory 
of most of us, has respect for law declined! Every man 
throws himself back upon his right of rebellion, and, the mo- 
ment a statute touches one’s own case, he makes a merit 
of defying it, and claims to be regarded as a martyr to principle. 
All over the land, mobs have taken the law into their own hands, 
and, so far from being frowned upon by an indignant public, they 
are generally praised and flattered for committing no greater 
amount of arson, robbery or murder, than they set out to com- 
mit. The only way, in which you can now have the laws 
executed, (except those against petty thieves and the less genteel 
class of robbers and swindlers,) is to make them so loose and 
indefinite, that they cannot be easily broken. 

Disrespect for those in authority is probably more prevalent 
among us, than in any other nation upon earth. The reviling of 
rulers, contemptuous words of the powers that be, how large a 
space have they for years filled in the speech of men and in the 
public press! An intelligent foreigner would be amply justified 
in inferring from our political newspapers, that there is not now, 
and has not been in our government for the last dozen years a man 
high in office, who does not merit a life-residence in the peni- 
tentiary. And yet, among the men thus defamed, there have 
not been wanting the rigidly conscientious, high-minded, philan- 
thropic and God-fearing. We leave our public functionaries no 
room for independent action. We say, when we vote for them, 
that they are men, who deserve to be trusted in all things; but 
yet we bind them hand and foot with pledges and instructions. 
So long as they remain bound, and suffer themselves to be our 
mere echoes, we are satisfied; but, the moment one of them 
exercises the discretion appertaining to his office, he is a traitor, 
and worse,—what right has he to think or act for himself? Have 
not those, who put him in power, decided all these matters for 


7 


him? Our treatment of our public men has often reminded me 
of the Chinese mariner, who carries in the stern of his vessel an 
idol, to which he burns perfumed paper and incense while the 
wind is propitious, but when he is becalmed, or a contrary wind 
sets in, he beats his idol with many stripes. Just so, we deify 
our great men and burn incense to them, while they let us think 
for them ; but account them worthy of stripes, so soon as they 
betray the slightest symptom of independent thought. 

Is it said, that these things are the natural growth of republican 
institutions ? If [thought them so, I would say,—Perish the very 
name of a republic! But the true republican spirit seems to me 
to be the very opposite of all this. I can conceive under a mon- 
archy of an abounding spirit of contempt for laws, which the 
people do not make, and for rulers, who hold their places, 
merely because their remote ancestors were great men. But, 
in a republic, who is it that make the laws? The people them- 
selves,—the very people that set them at nought. The laws are 
the expressed will of the majority, who, on matters that demand 
law, have an inherent right too obvious to be demonstrated, to fix 
the law,—of the majority, whose decision, though not necessarily 
sound and just, is the most probable approximation to absolute 
right, which a people can make,—of the majority, whose senti- 
ment is not without majesty, and challenges respect and defe- 
rence where it cannot command assent. It is the undoubted 
right of a minority to strive for the mastery, if it strive lawfully ; 
for numbers cannot overawe individual opinion, and men cannot 
but desire to see their own sentiments prevail. But it is the duty 
of a minority to confess itself fallible, to reverence as an offset to 
its Own judgment the voices of the greater number, and to 
submit and obey in meekness, until the power that enacted 
repeals. 

So with regard to our public functionaries, there is every rea- 
son why a republic, that respects itself, should reverence its 


DD 


rulers. We have the most inordinate national vanity ; and yet, 
in vilifying our rulers, what do we, but virtually acknowledge the 
deep depravity of our people at large? For only the vile can 
elevate the vile to high places of trust and authority. If we have 
been and are governed by selfish, knavish and unprincipled men, 
it must be because we are a selfish, knavish and usprincipled 
nation. But, if we have any faith in the integrity of the people, 
we ought to show reverence to the man of their choice, or, at 
least, to respect the office as the seat of the people’s sovereignty, 
and, from respect for the office, to shield its incumbent from 
insult and abuse. The public measures of public men are 
indeed the fair subject of criticism ; but might they not be thor- 
oughly canvassed in a respectful tone, in a candid and concilia- 
tory spirit, and without any admixture of wanton personality and 
coarse vituperation ? Do not men, who have not assumed their 
places, or grown into them, but who have been elevated to them 
by the voice of the people, proffer a fair claim to whatever of 
respectful treatment, candid construction, and reverential defe- 
rence is due to the great body of their constituents ? 

In a republic, the spirit of reverence for law, and for those, 
who make and administer it, is barely the extension of a just 
self-respect. And it is the only safeguard of popular institutions. 
It takes the place of an inquisitorial police, of standing armies, 
and of the pomp and circumstance of courts. It stands in the 
stead of force, which in a republic can never be employed 
beyond a certain point. It is the only thing, that can procure 
the keeping of the laws or obedience to rulers, and thus the only 
thing, that can preserve our nation from utter anarchy. In this 
quarter our great danger lies ; and it will take but a few years 
more of such irreverence for law and its functionaries, as has of 
late been rife through the land, to make ail the lovers of order 
and just subordination weary of republicanism, and ready to wel- 
come some more concentrated and absolute form of government, 


9 


which might at least compel awe, if it could not elicit reve- 
rence. 

We discern this same irreverent spirit in many of the theolog- 
ical tendencies of the day. How fertile in novelties and vagaries 
has been the religious history of the last few years, or, I might almost 
say, months! We know not how to analyze or class the multi- 
tude of vague and wild theories and speculations, which deluded 
men and unsexed women have broached and advocated, in con- 
venticles and through the press, in village, town and city. But 
they all bear close kindred in one point. They all take their 
start from this abounding spirit of irreverence, from a contempt 
for the traditional and authoritative, from an unwillingness to 
receive law even from the All-wise, and the determination of 
each to be a law to himself. They are as various as the minds 
which promulgate them, because each of these minds shuts out 
the great central light of the moral universe, and follows the 
twinkling of its own tiny star. “* Ye shall be as gods,” were the 
ensnaring words of the tempter to our first parents; and never 
were these words whispered with so flattermg an unction, and 
into so many ears, as at the present day. Even school boys and 
young maidens have caught the whisper, and, before they are 
men and women grown, they prate about the sufficiency of their 
own souls and their own inspirations, and their inability to take 
on trust even those teachings, which have the manifest seal of 
God. Misguided parents too babble to their children lessons of 
self-obedience and arrogant self-reliance, and laugh as obsolete 
at what once was the law for the young spirit, “ Fear God, and 
keep his commandments.” 

That this state of things can be permanent, [ by no means 
believe. But the end is not yet. I greatly fear, that these god- 
less vagaries cannot pass away without such shocking develope- 
ments of licentiousness and guilt, as have been the issue of similar 
movements in former times. The risen generation of self-wor- 


9 


= 


10 


shippers may abide by the habits of old-fashioned morality, 
which they learned under better auspices. But those, whose 
characters shall be formed under such maximsas, Obey your im- 
pulses,—Follow your instincts,—Believe no teacher,—Trust no 
written or traditional law, will show, it is to be feared, in unbri- 
bled and shameless profligacy, how well able man is to direct his 
steps without the law and the spirit of Jesus. I hesitate not to 
say, that the analogy of all ecclesiastical history renders it as cer- 
tain, as the experience of the past can render any thing in the future 
certain, that this boasted new light, this reformed theology, this 
christianity without Christ, this religion without reverence, faith 
or prayer, will ere long betray its true spirit and tendency in such 
open, avowed and gross practical immorality, as will make its 
disciples subjects, not for formal argument, but for the severest 
animadversion of law and justice. In proof of this tendency, it 
may not be out of place to remark, that, even by men and women 
of pure and virtuous lives, who are involved in these speculations, 
the sanctity and permanence of the marriage covenant are already 
called in question, and public morals thus attacked at one of those 
avenues, where the surest death-blow might be aimed. 


Such are some of the symptoms of a spirit of irreverence 
abroad in our land. And where does it have its origin? It 
springs, as seems to me, from small beginnings. It takes its 
rise, to a great degree, in the bosom of families, and has its 
source in the decline of domestic discipline and subordination. 
Children are absolved from the law of their parents, and are thus 
made the enemies of all law. It seems to me, that, even within 
my remembrance, (and many of you can double the years over 
which this extends,) there has been in this respect a very great 
change for the worse. The commandment used to be taught, 
“‘ Honor thy father and thy mother,” and ‘ Children, obey your 
parents in the Lord.” But now, from what I frequently witness 
of the mutual relation of children and parents, [ should almost 


11 


imagine that it had been written, “ Honor thy son and thy 
daughter,” and, ‘“ Parents, obey your children.” If, in these 
days of irreverence, there is any thing that is treated with univer- 
sal reverence, it is the wayward impulses and whims of children. 
And often have I seen parents of large and well informed minds, 
wise and judicious, instead of moulding their children’s charac- 
ters, submitting themselves to be moulded by them, brow-beaten 
out of sound opinions, driven from respectable and worthy habits, 
and drawn where neither good sense nor conscience would go 
with them. There are many other parents, who know not 
enough of their children to be influenced by them, who let their 
children grow up without restraint or guidance, who know not 
where or how they spend their time, who never lay upon them 
a command, or ask an account of their employments, their habits 
or their progress, who give them no opportunity to cultivate the 
virtues of filial trust, submission and obedience. It is children 
thus trained, or rather, thus untrained, who, when they grow up, 
push their elders aside. It is such, that despise laws, and speak 
evil of dignities. It is such, that spurn the yoke and burden of 
the Saviour, and walk by their own light and their own law. 

The best discipline for church and state is that of the well 
ordered family. The child in such a family learns to obey and 
to trust, is made to feel the imperfection of his knowledge and 
the limits of his rights, is taught the lesson of reverence and of 
faith. It is the wise appointment of God, that in every human 
household there should be a miniature of his own moral govern- 
ment, that thus, in the lesser families of earth, each individual 
should be trained to take his true place, and to move in his just 
orbit in his own great spiritual family. The child ina good fam- 
ily takes many things on his father’s word, obeys even where he 
cannot understand, and learns by obedience,—acquires, by ac- 
quiescence in what his father bids him do, the experimental 
knowledge of truth and duty. He gets the habit of conforming 


12 


his own will to a higher will, of distrusting his own unaided judg- 
ment, of referring to an authoritative standard of appeal, of 
believing that there is wisdom higher than his own, and a law 
above him. Having thus learned to render honor where honor 
is due, obedience where it belongs, faith where there is a basis 
for it, he is prepared by this invaluable pupilage to be a good 
citizen and a good Christian, to obey the laws, to respect the 
powers that be, to humble himself as a little child at the feet of 
Jesus, and to bow in conscious ignorance and weakness before 
the Ancient of days. It is not children thus trained and disci- 
plined, that lead and encourage mobs, that take their seats in 
disorganizing and anti-Christian conventions, that boast of their 
own godlike wisdom and sanctity, and despise their neighbours. 
T have not time to follow out this subject as 1 gladly would, 
and as J perhaps may on some future occasion. But I wish to 
leave with you, parents, this idea, that it is only as you maintain 
a just and careful discipline and government in your families, 
as you keep your children children, and make them actually 
obey you, trust you and be subject to you, that you can hope to 
see them filling the places which you desire for them, as sober, 
peaceful, worthy citizens, as the friends of law and order, as 
devout and dutiful followers of Christ, as members of the church 
of the living God. Those of you, who let your children manage 
and govern themselves, and leave them to the law of their own 
freaks and impulses, may indeed see much, that will seem to you 
to be elements of early promise, that is, you willsee a bold, fear- 
Jess, defiant spirit, a promptness and energy of action, a strength 
of resolve, a nervous intenseness of will and purpose; but, if 
you live long enough, you will see that strength given to evil, that 
energy wasted against what is right and true, and those giant 
elements of character, (for such in your fondness you deem them 
to be,) growing into harsh, knotty, distorted, self-willed, obstinate 
spirits, void alike of respect for man and the fear of God. 


13 


The remedy then for the evils, of which I have spoken, is in 
Christian homes. They are the true bulwark of the church and 
the state. They are the model of what the church and the state 
will be. The little must shape the great. What the church and 
the state are going to be for the next generation, the families 
now growing up must decide; and on you, parents, rests a fearful 
portion of the responsibility of this decision. 


We are reminded both by our subject, and by the occasion 
which has brought us together, of the stern old Puritans, who 
instituted this festival. They had many faults,—the faults of 
their times. But they had, and they dearly cherished the spirit 
of reverence in all its legitimate forms. To them the family was 
its sacred nursery. ‘There, by a discipline, sometimes perhaps 
needlessly severe, yet equal, impartial, and pervaded by the spirit 
of piety, they formed good citizens and good Christians. From 
the homes of those mighty, holy men, was transmitted that spirit 
of subordination, that habit of obedience, which alone kept our 
people from anarchy and civil bloodshed in our revolutionary 
times, and in the unsettled posture of affairs, that ensued upon 
our national independence. I would not invite back to earth 
every individual feature of the Pilgrim and the Puritan character. 
Much of it has well perished with the times, that gave it birth. 
But I would, that, with this glad festival, they had left us more 
of the reverent and devout soul, that breathed, not only on their 
solemn feast-days, but in their whole lives. Would to God, that 
there were in all our households that earnest, deep spirit of 
domestic piety, which hallowed theirrude homes, and made them 
like the tents of the old patriarchs, where the angel of Jehovah’s 
presence talked at the door, and sat at.the table. With this 
day’s ascriptions of gratitude around our domestic altars, let the 
vow go up from every parent’s heart, “ As for me and my house, 
we will serve the Lord.” 


prude etaee fhe abel 
> eel 
Ne EAN Hite 3 it ine ith Pes athe 
Pie ys wih! tony’ oh 5 Wa a 
owt el bed god Pehle 
Wha Wey Cu tee ahh mt) Mid ke pate hy 
Pay 2 ee ee a ae Aa shy Wh an 
oe phe A ay hadi ar aie! MRR a 
iia) Dov Ai! hoddoe eae 


Min 
Piel? 


SERMON II. 


GENESIS XVIII. 19. 


“ He will command his children and his household after him, and 
they shall keep the way of the Lord.” 


Ix my sermon on Thursday, I referred to deficient family 
discipline, as one chief cause of much that is to be lamented in 
the present aspects of society. I intend now to pursue this 
subject, though it is one, on which my own comparative inexpe- 
rience admonishes me to speak with unfeigned diffidence. But, 
having witnessed, as I think, much negligence and error on this 
point, among those whom I sincerely respect and love, and whom 
it is my province to warn of duty and of danger, I cannot 
conscientiously remain silent. I therefore ask your attention to 
what seem to me some of the chief deficiencies in the domestic 
management of children. 


1. Is there not on the part of many a lack of watchfulness over 
their children? Your children are too much out of your sight. 
You know not where they are, or with whom, or how employed. 
They are with you at table, and hardly anywhere else. You 
are not acquainted with them. You think them indeed too good 
children to need watching, and feel willing to trust them any- 
where. You never see any thing amiss in them. They sleep 
quietly, they behave decently at table; and you have not the 
slightest doubt that they are equally quiet and orderly through 
the day, and everywhere, forgetting that the times whea you 


16 


see them, are times, when the worst child could hardly show ill 
temper or bad principle. Perhaps some unfavourable account 
of your children’s characters occasionally reaches your ears; 
but you close your ears against it,—you are sure that it must be 
a mistake or a falsehood,—your children never said or did before 
you what they are reported to have said or done elsewhere, and 
you cannot conceive of their manifesting, when opportunity or 
temptation presents itself, any traits of character, which they do 
not exhibit during the few quiet, untempted moments of the day, 
for which you are with them. Thus do some of you know much 
less of your children’s characters, than your friends and acquain- 
tance do. 

Some of you, fathers, say that you have no time to attend to 
your children. Yet you feel yourselves acquitted of all blame 
towards them ; for it is on their account, not on your own, that 
you spend so many hours of the day in business, and deprive 
yourselves to so greata degree of the leisure and the enjoyment of 
home. You are iaying up money for your children,—you cannot 
hope to leave them rich without devoting your whole time and 
energy to business,—you therefore have no leisure to bestow upon 
their intellectual and moral culture, —that is, in plain speech, you 
believe that the property, which you can bequeath to your chil- 
dren, will be of more value than the characters, which you might 
help them form. Most heartily do I pity the children of parents, 
who thus prefer for them riches that perish with the using, to 
the enduring treasures of mind and heart. 

But, parents, whether it be your engagedness im other things, 
or a feeling of security with regard to your children, that has 
suspended your watchfulness over them, let me urge you by no 
means to take it for granted that they are all that you would have 
them. You ought to keep them, as it were, perpetually under 
your eye. You ought to know where and how they spend their 
time out of school, who are their playmates, in what kind of 
groups they are to be found, whether among the profane, bois- 


17 


terous and vulgar, or among children of blameless habits and 
character. ‘Their evenings should all be passed under your own 
roof, or under some roof, where you know that they are under 
none but good influences, and, if they desire happier evenings 
than they can spend at home, it is your fault, that their homes are 
not made pleasant and attractive-—While you keep your chil- 
dren thus beneath your own inspection, beware of that blinding 
partiality, which so often accompanies love. Let your affection 
rather assume the form of earnest solicitude, of unslumbering 
vigilance. How anxiously does a mother watch, almost from 
moment to moment, the constitution of a feeble infant, that she 
may meet with appropriate remedies every unfavorable symptom, 
the moment it becomes obvious, and may make haste to cherish 
every sign of health and promise! No less frail, no less depen- 
dant on incessant nursing, on the warding off of the first shadow 
of evil, on the prompt fostering of every good and happy symp- 
tom, is the mental and moral character of your child. You 
know not what of good or evilasingle day may bring forth. You 
are mistaken in imagining that your children’s characters are 
fixed. ‘They are ductile to an inconceivable degree. They are 
as clay in the hands of the potter. Be careful then, into what 
potter’s hands they fall. Be perpetually on your guard; and see 
that you take the means of knowing concerning them all that a 
finite being can know. 


2. Another prevalent fault of parents is their scepticism with 
regard to the influence of moral causes upon their children. 
How often have I heard parents talk, as if they thought that 
God’s laws were suspended in behalf of their own children, so 
that they might pass unsinged through a fiery furnace, in which 
any other child would be sadly burned! ‘The language employed 
with regard to any particular exposure or evil influence is: ‘I 
know very well that it is what many children would not bear,— 


2 


o 


18 


what would be of bad example and influence to almost any boy we 
know ; but our child has always been so good, and has so amiable 
and virtuous a disposition, that it is impossible for him to get any 
harm.” But, in talking thus, you are pronouncing your children 
exempt from a law of God, which is as unchanging as the heav- 
ens,—Evil communications corrupt good manners and morals. 
No character can entirely withstand the moral influences, to which 
it is subjected. ‘True, there may be a greater or less degree of 
yielding on the part of different individuals. Some may oppose 
a strong, others a feeble resistance. Some, by the mightiest 
effort, by such effort as not one child in a thousand has strength 
enough to put forth, may keep what good there is in them in the 
midst of evil examples and influences; but even then, they lose 
the benefit of the good example and influence, to which they 
might ail the while have been subjected. You might range the 
town without finding a single child, who would not be made posi- 
tively worse, would not have his finer feelings blunted, his moral 
sense dulled and hardened, by being several hours a day in the 
company, or under the control of persons of harsh and coarse 
manners, ungovernable temper, violent and profane speech, and 
immoral life. Yet many of you, parents, have acted on a diffe- 
rent idea, and have been willing to subject your children to influ- 
ences of this kind, against which I do not believe that your own 
moral feelings would have stood proof, Iam sure that mine would 
not. But you have supposed your children endowed with superhu- 
man strength of principle ; or else you have expected God to work 
a miracle in their behalf, and, indeed, had not the age of miracles 
passed away, I know of no miracle, for which a benevolent mind 
might pray more earnestly, than for one to protect a child in the 
furnace of fearful moral exposure, into which a parent’s hand had 
cast him. I mean that these remarks shall apply, not to one 
thing, but to many things,—to your carelessness in the choice of 
teachers for your children, or your indifference to the characters 


19 


of those, whom others choose for you,—to your heedlessness as to 
the company, which your children frequent,—to the questionable 
amusements, in which you indulge them,—to the degree to which, 
in times of political excitement, you seek to inflame their passions 
into sympathy with the turbid state of the community,—to the 
employments connected with modes of immoral agency, in which 
you sometimes place them, when they are old enough to be thus 
provided for. In all these ways have many of you wantonly 
exposed your children, often with full knowledge of the circum- 
stances of danger, but with the feeling, grounded on nothing in 
your child’s real character, but on your own parental blindness, 
that your child was too good to be injured by anything of the kind. 

But, admitting for the sake of argument that your child is too 
good to be contaminated by bad example and evil associations, 
I would ask, Is he too good to be made better? If not, might he 
not be continually growing better, if, in his school, among his 
companions, in his play-hours, in his employment, he were sur- 
rounded by positively good influences? His home influences, 
we will admit, are good. His father’s and his mother’s law and 
life are adapted to cherish in him the best principles and habits. 
But how much of the time is he with you? At the most four or 
jive, perhaps not more than one or two, of his fifteen or sixteen 
waking hours,—not so long as he is at school, not so long, in 
many instances, as he is at play. And can you expect, accord- 
ing to any known system of moral laws, that the good influence 
of the few hours will neutralize doubtful or bad influences during 
the many? The point, to which I wish to bring you, is, that you 
should not regard your children as exempts from God’s universal 
moral law. 1 want you to judge of them, not as your children, 
but as children, liable to suffer from all the sources of evil, and 
capable of benefit from all the sources of good, from which other 
children can get evil or good. 


20 


3. Another deficiency is in the standard of character, which 
many parents establish for their children. You do not set a 
sufficiently high standard for them. You desire and expect from 
them too little of moral goodness, of simplicity and gentleness, of 
conscientiousness and early piety. Nay, some of you desire and 
cherish in your children traits contrary to these. 1 have known 
a father, himself a very worthy man and excellent citizen, to 
speak with high approbation of his son, because he promptly re- 
venged some trivial insult from another boy by stout and cruel 
blows, saying, ‘ That is the kind of spirit I want my boys to 
show.” Surely this father had never thought of the spirit and 
temper of him, who returned not evil for evil, as something to be 
desired and sought for his children. He had for them an ideal 
of character, which was entirely opposed to the Christian ideal. 
Nor do [ think that it is very uncommon for parents to try to make 
their children irascible and vindictive, (they call it spzrtted,) and 
to give them maxims of conduct utterly averse from those of the 
New Testament. Nor is it rare for parents to cherish selfishness 
in their children,—to give them ungenerous maxims of conduct, 
to train them in ungenerous habits, and to do all that they can to 
infuse into them in early life a mean and miserly spirit. “This 
a parent, who regards money-making as the chief end of man, 
will almost always do. 

But, if you are not conscious of wishing to bring your children 
under the power of absolutely evil principles, are not some of you 
conscious of setting your aims for your children very low,—not 
low as to their worldly success, but morally and religiously low ? 
You are satisfied that many rough traits, especially in a boy’s 
character, should grow unchecked ; that certain border vices, 
for which you can find virtuous names, should be cultivated ; 
that many of the lesser graces of character should be entirely 
wanting. You are satisfied, if your son shows good capacities 
for business, and grows up free from such vices, as bring with 


21 


them idleness, poverty and loss of caste. You are satisfied for 
your daughter, if she has gone through the routine of a school 
education, has good manners, and is prepared to appear to ad- 
vantage in society. You are content that your sons should be 
self-willed, ungentle, self-indulgent to a certain point,—that they 
should grow up with little or no reverence for sacred times or 
things, and without religious principles or habits. You are con- 
tent, that your daughters should be idle, frivolous and selfish, and 
that they too should remain unconscious of their duties to God, 
and of the powers of the world to come. Yeu coincide with 
your children in the tacit feeling, that religion is not for the young, 
but for those of riper years. You have thought but little of their 
growing up to be the disciples of Jesus, and ‘ followers of God 
as dear children.” Your desires for them have seldom assumed 
the form of prayer. This lowness of aim has kept out of your 
sight the surest of all helps in their education, and is forming 
their characters destitute of the crowning grace of character. 
Unless you seek first for your children the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness, you cannot calculate on their having strength 
to resist temptation of any kind, or to hold fast their integrity and 
purity when assailed. For want of the only sufficient anchor to 
their souls, they may be swept away by the current of appetite 
and passion. For want of an interest in things heavenly, they 
may make utter shipwreck of things earthly. 

Think not that I am speaking of anything chimerical or unat- 
tainable, when I urge you to expect for your children something 
more, and to seek for them something higher and better, than you 
do. There is no reason, why your children should not become 
religious, as well as successful and accomplished men and women. 
Indeed the moral capacities are much more equally distributed, 
than the intellectual and the active. There is not a boy or girl 
in your families, whom, with God’s blessing, you may not train 
up to be a devout disciple of Jesus, a lover of every good word 


22 


and work, an eminently useful and beloved member of society. 
But, (though it be only to repeat in another form what has been 
already said,) let me, parents, put the question home to your 
hearts,—Are you conscious of sincerely and earnestly desiring 
these divine and inestimable benefits for your children? Have 
you, father, said to yourself concerning your son, ‘ 1 would that 
the eye that sees him should bless him, and the ear that hears 
him bear witness to him, that he should be as eyes to the blind, 
and feet to the lame, and a father to the poor, that he should 
walk among men in the beauty of a meek and forgiving temper, 
and a holy life, and that, when he dies, the ways of Zion should 
mourn?” Have you, mother, craved for your daughter, that her 
chief praise should be in the dwellings of the poor, her first delight 
in the service of her Master, her chosen study the book of eter- 
nal life? If not, let the paramount worth of these Christian 
graces be now brought home with power to your minds. Re- 
member that they are graces, in which the young spirit may be 
clothed ; that they may be the infant’s first robe, worn so early 
that be shall know no other; that they are the more difficult of 
acquisition, the longer they. are delayed; that, while God casts 
away no sincere penitent, he has said with peculiar emphasis, 
“‘ They that seek me early shall find me.” Bring before your 
minds that judgment of God, which you cannot escape, when for 
this parental trust you must render strict account to Him, who 
bestowed it. What will be the questions, which you must then 
answer? Not, “ Didst thou make thy son a successful servant 
of Mammon,—didst thou fit thy daughter to be admired, caressed 
and flattered among the gay and thoughtless”? But, * Didst 
thou teach thy son and thy daughter My statutes and My judg- 
ments, and place their young footsteps upon My paths? Didst 
thou open their hearts to My love? Didst thou bring them to 
Jesus, and invoke for them his blessing and his spirit” ? 


23 


4. Another error, into which, it seems to me, some careful 
and conscientious parents fall, is, that they make their children, 
too early and to too great a degree, their own masters. The 
habit of deciding for one’s self and taking care of one’s self is 
often spoken of, as of prime value to children. To my mind it 
seems of much more consequence that right decisions be made 
for them, and that good care be taken of them. If they become 
in any way the victims of folly, I know not what relief or remedy 
there can be in the fact, that they fell by ther own folly. A single 
wrong decision mav be of infinite and irreparable injury to them, 
—is it not then better that the power of deciding for them remain 
where it is most likely to be used with discretion? But, you ask, 
is it not well to accustom children early to the habit of self- 
decision? I reply that self-decision is less a habit, than a neces- 
sity. He, who ceases to have any one to decide for him, must in 
the very nature of things decide for himself. The habit, which 
you want to form in your children, is not that of se/f-decision, but 
of right decision ; and your best guarantee for their making right 
decisions, when they must needs decide for themselves, is in their 
having the example of an unbroken series of wise and sound 
decisions, which you shall have made for them. So too, when 
your children leave home, or attain a mature age, they must 
needs take care of themselves; and they will be best fitted todo 
this discreetly and safely, by the example of the minute watch- 
fulness, high principle and Christian fidelity, with which they were 
cared for through the whole of childhood and youth. 

But, you say, one needs to be early cast upon his own resources, 
and upon his power of prompt, bold, independent decision and 
action, in order to push his way among the crowd, when he goes 
forth into busy life. Ireply, that there is already too much of 
this pushing and striving,—there are too many masters, too many, 
who lean solely and rashly on their own understandings, who 
seek their own good to the detriment of others, who are entirely 


24 


destitute of the principle and habit of obedience and subordina- 
tion, whether towards God or man. If it is among such as these 
that you desire your child to urge his way into active life, the 
sooner you emancipate him from the yoke of filial restraint and 
obedience, the better. I grant too that those, whose characters 
are of this stamp, start foremost in the race for preferment and 
for gain; but they stumble midway in their career, and those, who 
started far behind them, pass by them, and leave them in the 
distance. The true discipline for life is not that, which cherishes 
a spirit of wanton, factious independence, but that, which teaches 
respect, obedience, submission, deference to the rights and claims 
of others, humility and meekness. The spirit of arrogant self- 
reliance which is abroad, and in which some good people take 
great pains to train their children, is fast upheaving the foundations 
of society, which can be laid again in strength and beauty, only 
by a generation, that shall have thoroughly learned to yield, submit 
and obey. It is easier to command, than to serve,—to dictate, 
than to yield,—to govern, than to be governed,—to defy law, than 
to be a quiet, conscientious, faithful citizen ; and for these more 
difficult, more necessary, more imperative duties, the discipline of 
obedience and submission during the years of childhood and 
youth is the best, the only sure preparation. 

By filial submission and obedience during the whole of their 
early lives, your children will also be best prepared for the life- 
long and the eternal service of God. ‘The child, who has lived 
in submission to earthly parents, will know how to obey his Father 
in heaven. But he, who is too early emancipated from the law 
of his father and his mother, will make haste to free himself from 
the law of God. The principle, that operates in both relations, 
is one and the same. Obedience is a pious,—self-reliance an 
ungodly spirit. ‘The child, that has learned to submit and obey, 
has acquired that, which is the habit of the redeemed in heaven, 
no less than of the good on earth ; and has therefore, on that one 


25 


point at least, a spirit in union and harmony with that of heaven. 
He, on the other hand, who is left too early to the counsel of his 
own will, so far as that circumstance affects his permanent char- 
acter, prepares himself to be a rebel, and therefore an outcast 
spirit in the world to come. 


5. Another lamentable deficiency in the influences, to which 
many of our children are subjected, is the lack of all the institu- 
tions of domestic piety. Are there not many of your families, 
where there is no domestic altar, no form of worship or of reli- 
gious recognition, no stated time for religious instruction? Are 
there not here many children, who have never heard the voice 
of prayer at their homes, except from their pastor, at some 
season of sickness or death,—many, who have never received 
from their parents, (or at least not since mere infancy,) a word 
of expressly religious counsel or warning? May we not trace to 
this domestic negligence the irreverent and indocile deportment 
and conduct of some, on the Sabbath, when under the care of 
their Sabbath teachers? I can hardly believe, that the utter 
indifference to religious truth, and the entire callousness of the 
young soul to the emotions of reverence and devotion, which 
have in some instances come to my knowledge, could have grown 
up in the hearts of children, who had daily accompanied their 
parents to the throne of mercy,—with whom piety had received 
its consecration from a father’s prayers, and the bible from the 
daily and reverent use of it in the family devotions. But I can 
easily conceive that themes, which the parent passes by, and 
never in any form recognizes at home, and which are urged upon 
the child only by ateacher whom he sees but once a week, should 
seem to him void of all reality, authority or worth, tedious, irk- 
some and unmeaning. ‘The child in such a case is guilty ; but 
the parent is so to a hundredfold degree. You must remember, 
parents, that to a child, especially to an affectionate child, (such 

4 


26 


as you either believe or desire yours to be,) the highest and surest 
consecration is that of a father’s or a mother’s example. The 
family altar has been for the salvation of multitudes, and has been 
for the rising again of many fallen. Of how many confessions 
of penitent and restored prodigals has this sentence formed a 
part,—* I thought of the mention daily made of me in the morn- 
ing and evening prayer at home!” 

Let me strongly urge upon you this duty, both for your chil- 
dren’s sakes and for your own. How appropriate, how beautiful 
the service! How natural, if there be a God, that they, whom 
he makes to dwell in families, and unites by common blessings, 
should together acknowledge and implore those blessings! How 
fitting, that, in a family of the frail and the dying, who yet would 
gladly believe that their love for each other cannot die, they 
should together own the redeeming mercy of him, in whom, 
though dead, they yet may live, of him, through whom alone 
they can be one family forever! How obviously necessary is it 
to a sense of religious restraint and obligation inthe young and 
volatile, that these momentous subjects should be daily brought 
home to their minds, revived by repetition, and made to take a 
deep hold upon their hearts by the constantly recurring solemnity 
of the hour of prayer! ‘he service need not be long, or com- 
plex, or such as to tax the mind of him who leads it; nor need 
it even be in his own words. Nay, it ought to be simple and 
brief, that it may be wearisome to none ; and the language of an 
appropriate form is often preferable to the timid and difficult 
flow of speech of one, who has not devotional language readily at 
his command. Only let the service be solemn and heartfelt. 
Let it not be, and therefore let it never seem, a mere form, but 
always a fresh, sincere and fervent service ; and it can hardly 
be, that your whole family will not imbibe the spirit of reverence 
and prayer, so that the chain let down from heaven will bind 
each with all, and all with God. 


27 


Do you feel, that you are not religious enough to conduct such 
aservice? For this very reason I would have you engage in it, 
and use it as a means of religion, as a pledge of your progress 
heavenward, as an instrument for daily strengthening good prin- 
ciples, and for keeping down and extirpating wrong traits of 
character. Or do you imagine that there is anything in your 
mode of life, your habits, your business, on which the spirit 
of your daily prayer would frown? Pray then, in order that you 
may concenirate the Almighty’s frown where you know that it 
rests, and that His felt frown may drive you from every habit, 
association or indulgence, on which you cannot implore His 
blessing. Or, although you own the obligation of this duty, have 
you so long neglected it, that you find it hard to begin? Will 
you not find it yet harder to account to your Maker for protract- 
ed delay in the discharge of an acknowledged duty? Is not that 
a false shame, which leads you to postpone doing right? If any 
of you own the weight of this obligation, and yet have been 
hindered by such feelings from the performance of a service so 
appropriate and beautiful, why may not this very day, when you 
and your families are reminded together of the duty, be the best 
time for breaking over the restraints of diffidence, and establish- 
ing the family altar? Your children will rise up and call you 
blessed for it. You will command by it the smile of God upon 
those whom you best love, and his spirit of holy counsel upon 
yourselves in your arduous and momentous duties. And, when 
the earthly house shall be dissolved, you may hope with confi- 
dence to appear at the right hand of the Judge, with the unbroken 
circle of those, whom you will have daily borne to your God and 
Saviour in the arms of faith, into whose young hearts you will 
have breathed the spirit of prayer and praise. 


6. But, finally, you will in vain seek to remedy all other 
deficiencies, where you leave anything wanting in parental exam- 


\ 


"98 


ple. Vain will be your prayers and teachings, vain your careful ; 


discipline and-rigid watchfulness, if you point one way -and walk 
another, Ifyou are:selfish amd worldly, if you are petulant and 
vindictive; if you,in any respect depart widely from the gospel 
standard of character, your children will mark the deviation, and 
will be far more likely to follow you, than to obey you. «But 
adorn the religion of Jesus bya life in all respects conformed to 
it ; let your walk in your household and before the world be 
pervaded by a spirit of piety towards God, of love to man, of 


justice and candor, meekness and truth; and you can hardly fail © 


to be obeyed, when you “command your children and your 
household after you to keep the way of the Lord.” 


I have thus, my friends, with great plainness of speech, placed 
before you some of the more prevalent deficiencies in domestic 


discipline, influence andexample. Accept these hints asa pledge 


of my sincere and affectionate wishes for your own, and your 
children’s highest good. Let me leave with you in conclusion 
David’s resolutions concerning the ordering of his house, as em- 
bracing principles essential to the well-being of every Christian 
family. ‘I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. 1 will 
walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked 
thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside ; 
it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me; 
I will not know a wicked person. He that worketh deceit shall 
not dwell within my house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in 
my sight. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that 
they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he 
shall serve me.” 


SERMON. 


BY THE 


wa” 


iG REY. JAMES HERVEY OTBY, D. D. LL.D. | 


BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF TENNESSEE. “i 


vd 


EDITED (BY REQUEST) — 


WILLIAM aif DOD, D. D. 


HE? 2, O3G 


. NEW YORK: 
DANIEL, DANA, Mes 381 BROADWAY. 


” 


eek ‘A eh ; 


7 A 
SERMON 


RIGHT REV. JAMES HERVEY OTEY, D. D., LL. D., 


BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF TENNESSEE. 


1 

: 

EDITED (BY REQUEST) ; 

Be WIELPAM A.,.DOD, D..D: ; 

3 / 

; 

wi 4 

NEW YORK: 

DANIEL DANA, JR., 381 BROADWAY. <j 


. 1860. 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in 
By Danret Dana, JR, 


In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United 
District of New York. 


4) 10/3 r) 
thewsre Collsclicon 


To Tue Ricur Rev. W. H. Opennemer, D. D. 
Right Rev. and Dear Sir. 


I raanxrutty undertake the service you so 
kindly transfer to me, of conducting through the press 
the manuscript Discourse of the Bishop of Tennessee 
on the subject of the Christian Ministry. I esteem 
myself happy in the opportunity of contributing, in 
any degree, towards the dissemination of truth so im- 
portant as that which forms the subject of this admira- 
ble Discourse. What can be of greater importance for 
the perpetual interests of the Truth, than the right 
doctrine of the ministry of the Christian Church? I 
was myself, as you are aware, led to this doctrine upon 
the final observation of the fact, that the Episcopal 
ministry is the only ministry which has had power for 
the last three hundred years, “to have and to hold” 
the right doctrine of the Holy Sacraments. 

- It does seem to methat, in the circumstances of the 
case, the preservation and perpetual use of the Book 
of Common Prayer, with its Baptismal and Eucharistic 
offices, is one of those remarkable providences which 
should challenge the heed of every individual whose 
attention has been directed towards the subject of the 
Christian Sacraments. It is simply a fact, that to the 


4 INTRODUCTORY. 


Episcopal Church, and to ne other, is owing the pre- 
servation of the Reformed doctrine, which is the 
catholic truth. It was my own habit, for a long time, 
to attribute this remarkable fact to the mere moral and 
disciplinary influence of the Prayer-Book—not stopping 
to ask how that Prayer-Book came to possess so won- 
derful a liturgic embodiment of the truth, nor howit - 
happened that the Liturgy itself has continued in 
actual use, notwithstanding the constant tendency of 
the rational mind to impugn its truth. I must confess 
that Ifound no explanation of the phenomenon, except 
in the consideration that the Liturgy, which has pre- 
served the Catholic truth concerning the Christian 
Sacraments, was prepared by, and has continued to be 
under the care of, that order of ministry to which the 
sacramental commission was at the first entrusted. I 
would that others in like circumstances, who feel the 
solemn importance of correct views on Baptism and the 
Lord’s Supper, and see that it is impossible to keep 
such views except by the aid of liturgical offices, 
might reflect whether there be not force in the above 
consideration. . 

Three things, as it seems to me, are at this day (or 
might be) patent to the observation of all men; one of 
these is, that Sacramental truth can only be kept by 
means of a Liturgy; the other is, that a Liturgy con- 
taining the true doctrine of the Sacraments cannot 
now be made; the third consideration is, that the 
Liturgy which has the true doctrine, and is at this day 
a living institute, is Episcopal. It is quite natural that 
the minister of the Gospel who believes that right 
views of the Sacraments are of the essence of a per- 
petual Church, and form the inspired basis of a full 


INTRODUCTORY. 5 


Christian nurture, and complete parochial work, should 
be attracted by the singular fact that the Episcopal 
Church has remained true to its standards. 

That the body of Christian people with whom I 
held ecclesiastical connection, has, together with all 
others, except the Episcopal, departed from the views 
of the Reformers on the Christian Sacraments, I am 
entirely constrained to believe. The doctrine that the 
Sacraments are channels of grace to men, is as clearly 
the doctrine of the Westminster Confession as it is of 
the Prayer-Book. Whereas the idea that grace is con- 
veyed through Sacraments, is certainly a foreign, if 
not revolting, idea to most of the Presbyterian 
churches in this land—to all except the German. The 
Sacraments are looked upon as divinely commanded 
services, and therefore to be solemnly observed; they 
are not come to as means of the reception of grace. 
The very highest view taken is, that they are seals 
upon grace already existing in the individual. The 
astonishing looseness of feeling on the subject of infant 
baptism, and the utter absence of desire for the Com- 
munion in sickness, show that the Sacraments are not 
principally looked upon in the light of a privilege by 
Presbyterian Christians. Indeed I must say, that, on 
the part of younger communicants, the Sacrament is 
not so much a season of rest and refreshment, as of the 
performance of a duty in some degree irksome from 
its awfulness, and from the mental indefiniteness of the 
act—so very defective is the prevalent teaching on the 
subject. I hope I do no wrong to my former brethren 
in making these statements. I believe that they are 
true, or I should not make them. Possibly there are 
Presbyterian ministers who hold that the Sacraments 


6 INTRODUCTORY. a 


are seals of grace in more than a merely declarative 
sense, but the number must be few indeed. I know 
there are many Presbyterian Christians who will seem 
to speak in high terms of the Sacraments, because the 
Confession of Faith so speaks, but I have not seen a 
Presbyterian congregation sacramentally brought up. 
I do not know, and have never heard of, a Presby- 
terian congregation in this country, which trains its 
children for Holy Communion upon the ground that 
they have been baptized. 

If any Presbyterian communicant judge these lines 
to do him wrong, I am willing to leave the question to 
his own decision, after he has read the Ninth Chapter 
of the Directory for Worship, and then asked himself 
what was the character of the questions put to him by 
the Session which admitted him to the Communion; 
and also after he has read the 167th Question of the 
Larger Catechism, and then asked himself how often 
he has been thus taught to “ improve his baptism all 
his life long.” I would particularly request of such a 
one that he would stop at the “ grace of baptism,” 
which he is there counseled to “repent of having 
fallen short of,” before coming to his decision of the 
question. There can be no doubt that the almost 
universal practice of Presbyterian Sessions, in the 
admission of candidates to the Lord’s Supper, is one 
which was distinctively Congregational, and which the 
old Presbyterian fathers absolutely abhorred. There is 
as little doubt that the cause of this enormous ex- 
crescence upon the system is due to the fact, that all or 
nearly all real faith in the “ grace of baptism” has be- 
come obsolete. 

It was the observation of facts such as these, which 


INTRODUCTORY. ie 


led me to judge that there must be some Diviner sys- 
tem for the conservation of the Truth. I only wonder 
that I did not sooner see that for the preservation of 
Sacramental truth there must be a Divine System; that 
it isfor ever beyond the reach of any uninspired organ- 
ization to hold fast to that which is so above all human 
devising, so difficult of comprehension and retention, 
by a merely mental effort, so liable to be dissipated by 
the action of that rationalistic element, which every 
son of Adam earries in his bosom, as is the Sacra- 
mental Truth which lies at the very foundation of 
Christ’s holy Church. 

Such, Right Reverend Sir, was my own experience 
-as it respects the great Episcopal fact of the last three 
hundred years. It may be of service to others, and 
therefore am I glad of this opportunity of stating it. 
Would that all who feel the importance of a Liturgy 
might see that there can be no Liturgy without a 
Bishop, and would. that all might feel the importance 
of a Liturgy. 

The admirable Sermon which you howe entrusted 
to my care approaches the subject of Church Govern- 
ment from a different line of direction, but both con- 
verge upon this one central truth of the whole matter, 
that wherever the Church as the perpetual pillar and 
ground of the Truth has been, there hath ever been 
the inspired order of the Episcopate. 

It has been suggested to me that there might be 
some readers who would not understand the absence, 
in this Discourse, of any statement of the moral quali- 
fications of the Ministry. The subject, as here dis- 
cussed, did not call for such statement, but lest the 
effect of the discussion might else be injured with any 


8 INTRODUCTORY. 


readers, allow me to quote a short section from the 
Canons, showing what moral qualifications the Church 
requires in her ministers. : 


“Tt is also to be made known to every candidate, for ~ 
whatever order of the ministry, that the Church ~ 
expects of him what never can be brought to the test of _ 
any outward standard,—an inward fear and worship of 
Almighty God, a love of religion, and a sensibility to 
its holy influences, a habit of devout affection, and, in 
short, a cultivation of all those graces which are. 
ealled, in Scripture, the fruits of the Spirit, and by 
which alone His sacred influences can be manifested.” 
Canon 2, § v. 


Tam, Right Rey. Sir, 
Very truly your ob’t servant, 
W. A. DOD: 


PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 


Tr is evident from unmistakable signs, that the ques- 
tion of Church Government is again coming up for 
discussion. It will be more generally and more 
thoroughly canvassed than ever before in the course of 
American Church history. The progress of the argu- 
ment to this time, has constrained the non-episcopal 
bodies to assume an union upon common ground, as 
over against the stand-point of Episcopacy. But 
_this, of itself, is causing interior troubles in many cases 
—the position assumed is resented by some, and so has 
led to a revived examination of denominational pecu- 
liarities, and to consequent controversy on disputed 
and unsettled points. Then too, this assumption of a 
general fellowship has awakened old prejudices and 
suspicions, so that while the denominational feeling 
would seem to be growing stronger, and party lines 
drawing tighter, the essential weakness of the denomina- 
tional principle is only the more clearly revealing itself. 
There are those who see this. The fact is impressing 
many minds. There are those who see that in the single 
respect in which the various Christian bodies are really 
one, (the common acknowledgment of one Lord), the 
Episcopal Body is equally with them, and that in all 
1* 


ee 


10 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 


other respects the posture of fellowship is merely a 
thing put on. They see that there is no more real 
union and communion between Baptists, Methodists, 
and Presbyterians, than between them and Episcopa- 
lians. They see that as it respects ménisterval inter- 
change, which is the identical form in which the pro- 
fession of denominational fellowship would, of course, 
declare itself were it a reality, there is literally none 
of it as such—ministerial brethren of the denomina- 
tions do not exchange pulpits upon the principle of a 
commutual recognition of orders, but on the score of 
personal acquaintance, which alone will warrant such 
exchange without fears and suspicions. Much less 
would they exchange in Sacramental offices, which 
alone could answer the purpose of a fair criterion. 
There is far more true Christian feeling between Epis- 
copalians and the denominations than there is between 
the denominations themselves. 

Now, it ever has been the case in time past, when, 


for whatever reason the essential weakness of the de- 


nominational principle has so revealed itself as to lead 
the minds of men into a fair posture for the examina- 
tion of the Episcopal argument, that the result has 
tended in one way. ‘It adds to the numbers of those 
who see that the true government of the Church is 
that which has no peculiarities, but is one and the 
same from the beginning. 

Another thing which is attracting, and will yet much 
more arrest the attention of the Christian people of 
this land, is the palpable fact that the Episcopal Con- 


stitution is the only one which is its own successor, of - 


all the religious bodies which have been planted on 
our soil. Questions of doctrine, or of discipline, or 


_ 


PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 11 


latterly the great social questions of the day, have rent 
them every one asunder, some of them time and again. 
No one of them has been able to preserve a historic 
continuity, even for so short a time as this! 

When, alongside of changes and departures such as 
these, is beheld the Episcopal Church, manifestly and 
perfectly identical with that which was first planted in 
the land, nay, at whose altars Cranmer himself might 
minister precisely as he did of yore; nay, more, at 
whose altars S. Chrysostom, or Irenzus, or Ignatius, 
would find a familiar Service—assuredly it will be 
noted that there is a permanency here which is remark- 
able. Still more, one of greater worth in this com- 
parison than any uninspired man could possibly be, one 
to whom were said the words, “ Arise and be baptized 
and wash away thy sins,” and who said the words, 
“The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the 
Communion of the Blood of Christ,’ would in every 
Episcopal Church, throughout this land, find a Font 
whose Baptismal waters are consecrated unto “ the mys- 
tical washing away of sin,” and an Altar where the 
Cup is blessed, in a service which has never once 
ceased to declare that It is the Communion of His Blood. 

The following Discourse will show the candid reader, 
in a way I cannot conceive how he shall be able to 
resist, the Scriptural reasons for recognizing in the 
ministry of this perpetual and undivided Altar, the 
_ undoubted Apostolic Ministry of the Christian Church. 
In place of preparing the usual table of contents 
for the Discourse, I take the liberty of subjoining 
the following extract from a letter of Bishop Otey’s, 
which will be found to give a condensed summary of 
the argument. 


12 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 


“T read the four Gospels, and there learn what I am 
to believe concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and His 
doctrine. There is the basis of my faith. I read the 
Acts of the Apostles, and there learn how my faith is 
to be reduced to practice, or what I must do to become 
a Christian. I read the Epistles, and am there taught 
how I must behave myself, as a professed follower, a 
disciple of Christ. All this is what we call plain 
sailing, avoiding all the rocks and breakers of specula- 
tive theory. 

“ Again, I look at the 28th chapter of St. Matthew, 
and find that our Lord after His death and resurrection, 
and previous to His ascension, came to the Eleven dis- 
ciples, and gave them that commission which clothed 
them with plenary powers to settle the order and goy- 
ernment of His Church—‘ All power, &c.’ I find 
that Matthias (Acts, i.) is chosen, and numbered among 
the Apostles; also that Paul and Barnabas, to name 
no others, are called to the same distinction. Here is 
unquestionably one order of the Ministry of Christ. , 
I find (Acts, vi.) another order called Deacons, and 
them preaching and baptizing—(See Acts, vi. vii. and 
viii). In Acts, xiv. 23, I find another order called 
Elders, ordained by Paul and Barnabas. I see the 
same order afterwards spoken of in the Epistles, under 
the names of Bishops, Elders, and Presbyters. Here 
then I am obliged, without entering into discussion 
about the powers of the respective orders, to admit 
that Three Orders of Ministers did exits in the Apos- 
tolic Church, and that with this constitution of the 
Christian ministry the Canon of the New Testament 
closes. Thisis my jist conclusion. 

**T examine the chronology of the New Testament, 


PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 13 


and I find that a ministry was commissioned—Sacra- 
ments ordained and administered, and the word of 
salvation preached before (years before) the New Testa- 
ment was written. I am bound, if I reverence the 
authority of Christ, to hold that the word, ministry, 
and sacraments, are necessary to the constitution of 
His Church. Hence I conclude that the Church is an 
institution which grows out of the work of the minis- 
try—that the ministry in point of time, authority and 
appointment, precedes the Church; and we all at this 
day act practically upon the truth of that position, by 
sending the ministry with the word and sacraments, 
when we would plant the Church in a heathen nation. 
This is my second conclusion. 

“The apostles went forth in the name of Christ. They 
never pleaded any authority for their teaching and 
acts, apart from that of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hold 
then that all men who reverence the authority of 
Christ profess to act in His name, or by His authority ; 
as a necessary consequence this authority must be a 
delegated authority—surely they must be féw who 
claim an inherent or natural right to act in this case. 
If delegated, then it is an authority which must “ ex 
necessitate,” be conferred, and consequently must also 
be transmissible. This is my third conclusion. I can- 
not escape then from the premises which the New 
Testament furnishes, and therefore I reach, or rather I 
am forced to, this other and jimal conclusion : 

“That the Order of the Gospel is equally with the 
Faith of the Gospel, an integral part of Revelation, and 
as unalterable as its Sacraments, or any other part of 
it which rests upon the universally acknowledged au- 
thority of a ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ ” W. A. DF 


SERMON. 


SERMON. 


* Thou hast tried them which say they are Apostles, and 
are not, and hast found them liars.”—Rev. ii. 2. 


Amone the commendations bestowed by that 
glorious Being, whom St. John saw in the isle of 
Patmos, clothed with all the emblems of heaven- 
ly and eternal majesty, is that related in the 
words of the text, as conferred upon the angel 
of the Church of Ephesus. It is worthy of notice 
that St. Peter also, in his second Epistle, warned 
the primitive Christians that false teachers should 
arise among them to mislead and deceive, as 
there had been false prophets among the people 
of Israel. The appearance of such disturbers 
only marks more emphatically the truth of Chris- 
tianity, by the fulfilment of the predictions of 
Christ and his Apostles. 

That it is the interest of believers to possess 
clear views of the faith once delivered to the 
saints, and assured participation of the privileges 
of the Gospel—that it is their religious duty to 


18 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


seek such advantages, availing themselves of all 
helps and facilities which Providence may vouch- 
safe, and that they are accountable to God for 
the faithful fulfilment of this duty, surely, requires 
neither reason nor argument to demonstrate. 
The fact is notorious, and as lamentable as noto- 
rious, that there is not a doctrine belonging to 
the Gospel, from the nature of the Messiah him- 
self, down to the nature of the bread and wine, 
with which his “death is shown forth till he 
come,” upon which opposite views are not enter- 
-tained by different independent Christian socie- 
ties. The truth is obvious that a man reared in 
any one of these associations, or attracted to it 
by circumstances, acts as reasonably and as safely 
In presuming its purity without inquiry, as any 
other man attaching himself to a different organ- 
ization, who makes the same presumption respect- 
ing its pure and safe character from similar no- 
tions. And thus the inference is overwhelming, 
that if the profession of a sound faith and solid 
privileges be of any consequence and benefit to 
the soul, he who is content to be blown about 
by the first wind of doctrine which he happens 
to encounter, without consulting the volume of 
inspiration by the light of impartial reason, neg- 
lects his highest spiritual interests, and a plain 
spiritual duty. | 
We are fully sensible that in the discussion of — 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 19 


all such questions as that suggested by the text, 
looking to the determination of ministerial au- 
thority, it is exceedingly difficult to avoid what is 
called a sectarian course of remark. But such a 
course, we think, can be avoided, and, if possible, 
we intend to avoid it on the present occasion. 
To this end it is only requisite, that we pursue 
the inquiry with a view to truth wherever it may 
lead, and not with a purpose of finding some 
practicable way to conclusions which we wish to 
reach. Observe, it is not our intention to seize 
on some conclusion or principle, held or discarded 
by any church and argue that such conclusion or 
principle is true or false. It is our object to 
show that the subject deserves inquiry: that it 
is the duty of Christians to examine carefully 
what and where the truth is, and to conform their 
religious attachments to the results of that ex- 
amination. To this end, I shall begin with an 
element so essential to the form of Christianity, 
that every system must possess it in some shape 
or other, right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, con- 
sistent or inconsistent; and then throwing aside 
all regard to what this church or that maintains 
about it, let us follow truth by the light of rea- 
son and Scripture, whithersoever it may lead us. 
If, at the close of our investigation, we find our- 
selves on what is called sectarian and exclusive 
ground, it may, perhaps, console us to perceive, 


20 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


that we also come in to share the commendation 
bestowed on the angel of the church of Ephesus, 
who had tried those who said, “they were Apos- 
tles; but were not, and were found to be liars.” 
Well, there is one element which not only the 
slightest glance at Scripture, but the least exer- 
cise of common sense shows to be essential to 
the very being of a visible Church of Christ, 
that is, a ménistry constituted in accerdance with 
the appointment of the Holy Spirit, which or- 
ganized the Church, and of whose blessed influ- 
ences that organization contains the instituted 
channel. Observe, that I am not now asserting 
or insinuating that a ministry, in order to be 
lawful and scriptural, must be constituted on the 
principle which any particular church adopts. I 
only assert what no Christian can dispute; that 
some principle or other is requisite to constitute 
a lawful ministry, and without that constitution, 
whatever it may be, no ministry is lawful. This 
follows from the obvious and admitted fact, that 
all men are not lawful ministers—all the flock . 
are not appointed shepherds. Unless all men 
have been appointed ambassadors of Christ, and 
intrusted with the stewardship of the mysteries 
of God, there must. be some criterion, by which 
to distinguish who are such ambassadors and 
stewards, and who are not. For instance, I ask 
you, why are you willing to receive sacred min- 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 21 


istrations at my hand, and why refuse them, at 
the hand of the friend who sits at your side? 
There must be some reason operating upon your 
minds; and let us see what it is, and whether it 
is valid and safe. I hope it is not, merely, be- 
cause I present myself as an ambassador of Christ, 
and others are willing to receive me as such. 
The same reason would compel you to receive 
any false prophet, who should succeed in delud- 
ing other men. In heathen lands, it would sus- 
tain the Brahmin and condemn the Missionary. 
In our land it would commend the prophet of 
Mormonism to your pious deference and esteem. 
Men of the world, mere spectators of Christian- 
ity, may with some show of consistency grant 
out of courtesy what, until they change their re- 
ligious position, they had no motive to scrutinize. 
They are led by none, they cannot be misled by 
any. - But those who are in the fold are express- 
ly warned against persons who should present 
themselves in the name of Christ and deceive 
many. That is decisive. Remember, when you 
are told, or when you tell us, that it is unchari- 
table or stupid not to admit any man as a mes- 
senger of Christ, whom other men admit as such, 
our Saviour warns us to be thus uncharitable and 
stupid, if we have no better reason than this for 
receiving them. Well, is it on account of natural 
or acquired qualities; any learning, or eloquence, 


22 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


or reputation, that we ought to receive men as 
ministers? No: on this principle Simon Magus 
would have had no occasion to buy, as he fool- 
ishly thought, ministerial powers from St. Peter. 
On the contrary he would have had more evi- 
dent credentials. No man is Jorn a minister, or 
a maker of ministers; neither can he acquire 
such power by any human art or qualities. Such 
qualities can no more constitute a minister, than 
the natural qualities of water and wine would 
make them sacramental elements, in the absence 
of divine institution. So that, no matter how 
learned or eloquent, or venerable a man may be, 
it is no reason at all, to admit his ministerial of- 
fices, and we ought to avoid them, unless we 
have other and better reasons. 

Well, is acknowledged and manifest piety a 
decisive criterion of the ministry? Certainly 
not; unless every pious Christian is also a min- 
ister. If the office belonged of right to the most 
pious Christian in the congregation, it would 
often fall to females. But no humble Christian, 
and, therefore, no pious one, would assume it, or 
could say to his brethren, “stand aside for I am 
holier than thou.” Besides, since no man can 
see into the minister’s heart, whether it is right 
in the sight of God, no man could ever be assur- 
ed on this principle, that he had received the 
privileges of Christianity. Our Saviour tells us 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 23 


that a person may be wicked, and still a lawful 
and sufficient minister; that at the day of judge- 
ment, many will appear, who have prophecied— 
that is preached in his name—in his name cast 
out devils and done many wonderful works, to 
whom, nevertheless, he will say, “I never knew 
you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” 
Consequently, whosoever argues that a man 
ought to be received as a minister, because he is 
a good man, might just as well say that a man 
ought to be acknowledged as a magistrate be- 
cause he is a learned man. 

Well, in the next place, is success in bringing 
men from sin to holiness, and from the power of 
Satan unto God, a sufficient test of the ministe- 
rial office? Let us see: we observe that the 
Same man is successful at one time and place, 
and unsuccessful at another time and place ;—is 
he a lawful minister in one instance and not in 
the other? Or must Christians always wait to 
see whether a man is successful, before they re- 
ceive him as a minister? Or by what degree of 
success then must it be measured? Or in the 
ministerial body of any Church, are the success- 
ful the only lawful ministers, and the unsuccess- 
ful no ministers at all? No, every man must be 
. a minister, and be received as a minister, before 
his labors can have any result, successful or other- 
wise. Therefore, whosoever argues that a man 


24 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


is a lawful minister, because he labors successful- 
ly, says what is nothing at all to the purpose. 
But, perhaps, you are ready to ask, if he be not 
a lawful minister, how do you account for his 
success 2 Nothing more easy. The saving effi- 
cacy is the property of the word. It does not 
flow from the instrument by which it is wielded. 
And the word of God, not only in the hands of 
a man’s minister, but in his own hands, in the 


hands of his wife or child, may through grace 


be effectual to his salvation. But it is not to 


himself, or to his wife or child, or to any person 
but a lawful minister of God, to whom he can. 
resort for the privileges of Christ’s Church. 

Let us now stop a moment, and consider where 
we are, and what conclusion we have reached. 
We have determined, from the nature of the 
Christian ministry, that various popular consid- 
erations are entirely destitute of any legitimate 
relations to the truth which we investigate. We 
have found that though a man present himself 
with all confidence as a minister, and though 
bodies of men, with all confidence, receive him; 
though he be able, and learned, and eloquent, 
and devout, and. zealous, and successful in preach- 
ing the word; all this has nothing to do with 
the decisive question, whether he is to be recog- 
nized as a minister of God. We have now ex- 
amined and passed by all the presumptions of 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 25 


the ministerial power, upon which it is commonly 
recognized, and we perceive that common sense 
teaches, that all such presumptions are to be 
regarded as groundless. Our only resource now 
is to search the Scriptures. We find that no 
person—not the Apostles—not the Saviour him- 
self—ever assumed the priestly office. “ Christ 
glorified not himself to be called an High-Priest, 
but He that said unto him, This day have I 
begotten thee!” The Scriptures tell us that 
Christ commissioned his Apostles with the words, 
“As my Hather hath sent_me, even so send I you.” 
as it was a part of His commission to send them, 
so these words made it a part of their commission 
to send others. 

It is not to be supposed that Christians would 
recognize any man as a minister, unless he had 
been ordained by a minister or ministers. The 
Scriptures on that point are of acknowledged 
clearness. Now, observe, if no man is a lawful 
minister unless he has been ordained by minis- 
ters, 1t follows that lawful ordination must flow 
of necessity from the original source to which it 
was delegated. And thus it becomes as clear as 
the noontide blaze, that there can be no utility 
or reason in the almost universal practice of ordi- 
nation, unless it be a part of a succession of ordi- 
nations which reach from the Apostles. It is an 
undeniable fact. that the ministerial authority 

yy 


~ 


26 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


was viewed in this light by the early Christians 
throughout the world, wheresoever the ministers 
of the Gospel first propagated the faith. Thus 
Eusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian after 
the Apostolic age, is careful to record a list of 
the succession of Bishops in the principal churches 
of his day: as of Rome, beginning with Linus— 
of Jerusalem, beginning with St. James—whom 
the Scripture show to have presided at the first 
ecclesiastical council, held by the Apostles, 
elders, and brethren—of Antioch, beginning with 
Hvodius-——and at Alexandria, beginning with St. 
Mark, down to his own cotemporaries. On this 
subject hear Irenzus, Bishop of Lyons, where he 
was martyred just one hundred years after the 
death of St. John! “We can reckon up those 
whom the Apostles ordained to be Bishops in 
the several churches, and who they were that 
succeeded them, down to our own times. For 
they desired to have those perfect and unre- 
provable, whom they left to be their successors, 
and to whom they committed their own place 
of government.” 

But there is yet a further question to be de- 
termined respecting the divine institution of a 
ministry. It is necessary to ascertain not only 
how it exists, but, in what form ?—whether with 
a distinction of orders, so that certain functions 
can only be performed by particular grades; or 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 27 


whether there is a parity of rank established 
between all ministers. Now, as regards this sub- 
ject, the simple question for you to consider is 
this: It is very certain that if you find inequality 
of rank and difference of function in the New 
Testament, there must be the same inequality 
now; for God has not altered His appointment 
since the canon of the New Testament was 
closed. Has any one now, or since the age of the 
Apostles, power or authority to change that ap- 
pointment ? If not, then the plain and undenied 
facts of the New Testament, it would seem, ought 
to be decisive as to all questions touching the 
Christian ministry. 

Let us look at some of those facts: The first 
recorded and official act of the Apostles and 
brethren—or of the disciples—after the forty- 
days’ instruction by Christ were ended, and he 
had ascended to his mediatorial throne in the 
Heavens, as we read in the first chapter of the 
Acts, was the election of Matthias and his recep- 
tion into the number of the Apostles. On the 
day of Pentecost, Christian baptism, or baptism 
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost, for the remission of sins, was, for the 
first time, performed. In the sixth chapter of 
the Acts, we read of the appointment and ordi- 
nation, by the Apostles, of the seven Deacons. 
We read in the 14th chapter of Acts, of the 


28 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


ordination of Elders by Barnabas and Paul, and 
repeatedly afterwards we find mention made of 
the same order styled indifferently, Elders, Pres- 
byters, Bishops, and Overseers. These are sim- 
ple facts, showing conclusively the existence of 
these orders of ministers in the Church of Christ 
during the Apostolic age. With this arrange- 
ment, the testimony of the New Testament ends. 
Now, a word as to their functions. We have 
already noticed the fact of Matthias’ introduction 
into the Apostolic college—the setting apart of 
the seven Deacons by the Apostles, and the 
ordination of Elders by Barnabas and Paul, 
called also Apostles. We now go a step further 
and assert, that not one single instance of the 
conferring of orders, by other than Apostolic 
hands, or by express designation by our Lord 
himself, can be found in the New Testament. 
But more yet: about the time of St. Stephen’s 
death we learn that Philip—one of the seven 
Deacons—went down to Samaria, and, by his 
preaching, brought many of the Samaritans to 
receive the Gospel. He wrought many miracles, 
and, by baptism, received both men and women 
into the Church. Upon this information the 
Apostles at Jerusalem sent two of their number, 
Peter and John, down to Samaria. For what 
purpose? Their actions, as recorded by St. Luke, 
will most plainly declare. When Peter and 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 29 


& 


John “were come down, they prayed for them,” 
(the men and women of Samaria baptized by 
Philip,) “that they might receive the Holy 
Ghost ”—a gift, in those days, held to be neces- 
sary to the completion of Christian character. 
“Then laid they their hands on them, and they 
received the Holy Ghost.” Thus it is perceived 
that Philip had authority to preach and to bap- 
tize—that he could work miracles of such power 
as to astonish and convince the Samaritans, but 
that it was necessary for Peter and John, not- 
withstanding, to journey all the way from Jeru- 
salem to exercise a ministerial function, for which 
Philip had no authority. What must you infer 
from this state of facts? What would you say ? 
That Philip, Peter, and John, were ministers of 
equal grade, and exercised the same functions ? 
If you did, you would compel us to think, that 
fact and reasoning would be lost upon you. 

But, perhaps, you will say, that the Apostolic 
office was not intended to be continued, and even 
the name Apostle has been dropped in all churches, 
as a name inapplicable to any body or order of 
Christian ministers. It was very natural that 
the name should be discontinued for a reason as- 
signed by very early ecclesiastical writers, as [si- 
dore and Theodoret, in the third -and fourth 
centuries. It was very convenient and proper 
that the first and noblest band who received the 


30 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


office from Christ himself, should have a peculiar 
name by which to be distinguished when referred 
to. And, therefore, we find that men who were 
Apostles, and are so called in the New Testament, 
such as Barnabas and Timothy, have never heen 
so called by Christians since the original “ glori- 
ous company” departed to their reward. And 
yet, remember the declaration of Irenzeus, who, 
as I said, was martyred exactly one hundred 
years after St. John, the last survivor. “ We 
can reckon up those whom the Apostles ordained 
to be Bishops in the several churches, and who 
they were that succeeded them, down to our own 
times.” But that the Apostolic office was con- 
tinued, by the elevation of other men, who exer- 
cised some of their functions and held the same 
grade in the government of the Church, is ex- 
pressly shown by the scriptural facts that Paul 
had the same office with the original Twelve, and 
Barnabas had the same office with Paul. While 
Timothy at Ephesus, Titus in the large and popu- 
lous island of Crete, Epaphroditus at. Philippi, 
have not only the name of Apostles, but they ex- 
ercised the same high powers of discipline and 
regimen in the places assigned to them. There 
zs one office continued as far as the inspired ree- 
ord extends, without any hint how, why, or when, 
or by whom it was to be discontinued. Well, we 
read every where of another grade of officers, 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 31 


generally called presbyters, who were inferior to 
the first. Thus in the Church at Ephesus, the 
Presbyters were to be ordained by Timothy only ; 
by him to be admonished ; by him to be tried ; 
by him charged as to doctrine to be taught: from 
all which it must be indisputably clear that these 
presbyters had no official power to ordain, ad- 
monish, try, or charge either Timothy or each 
other: that it was no part of their office to per- 
form the higher ministerial functions, and there- 
fore, until one thousand five hundred years after- 
wards, there is not an instance, in ecclesiastical 
history, of the assumption and exercise of these 
powers by presbyters. Turn to the island of 
Crete and we find precisely the same state of 
things. We find one man, Titus, stationed in 
that most populous region of all antiquity, 
famed for its hundred cities, charged by St. Paul 
to “set in order the things that were wanting, 
and ordain elders in every city;” to rebuke 
sharply such as taught things contrary to sound 
doctrine, and to exhort with all long-suffering 
and authority. Now, it is clear that Timothy 
and Titus exercised jurisdiction over numerous 
other presbyters. This cannot be denied with- 
out denying St. Paul’s veracity. If, then, reliance 
be placed upon names, Timothy is called an 
Apostle. If upon things, upon official functions, 
we desire any one to show us the thing or func- 


Sar THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


tion peculiar to the Apostolic office which did 
not belong to Timothy. 

The sum of what we have now said is this: 
1. That there was imparity in the ministry of the 
Church as divinely constituted. 2. That there 
was an order of ministers called Deacons, whose 
office it was to preach, baptize, and serve tables. 
8. That there was a higher grade called Presby- 
ters, who besides preaching and baptizing, ad- 
ministered the Lord’s Supper, and had the over- 
sight of congregations, but possessed no power 
to ordain or control other ministers, but were 
themselves under the supervision of a higher 
officer invested exclusively with the power of or- 
dination and authority to exercise ministerial dis- 
cipline. Any Church which maintains this triple 
arrangement, with the principle of succession 
preserved through the highest grade, is a Church 
of Apostolic constitution and ministry; and it is 
pleasing to reflect that this constitution is yet 
clung to by the large majority of all those “who 
profess and call themselves Christians.” The 
small fraction of those who dispense with it, are 
obliged, nevertheless, to admit that it was uni- 
versal, at least as early as one hundred years 
after the death of St. John, and was unquestioned 
ever after, down to the time of Calvin, the au- 
thor of the Presbyterian polity ; and many of the 
most learned of those who have been his follow- 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 33 


ers, as Grotius, Le Clere, and Baxter himself, 
concede that it was the original Apostolic consti- 
tution. 

Before we dismiss this subject to the judgment 
of your reason enlightened by revelation, we 
must submit to you a brief comment on two 
popular maxims, which though they directly 
traverse each other, are favorite topics to objectors 
among Christians as well as among unbelievers. 

The first objects to the principle involved in 
the text, that pretensions to the Gospel ministry 
are legitimate subjects for inquiry and trial, be- 
eause all such investigations, by obtruding upon 
public view, the dissensions of Christians, are in- 
jurious to society and to religion. The second 
maxim popularly held, with not much consistency, 
but with equal truth, affirms that after all it is 
better for the world and for the Gospel that there 
should be differing sects. 

To the first objection, we answer, that if di- 
visions among Christians are an eye-sore and an 
evil, the plain dictate of reason and duty is that 
if possible they be cured. Doubtless there were 
those among the Ephesians, who deemed it best 
to institute no examination into the claims of 
those pretenders to the apostleship, and who, 
when tried, were found to be liars- They did 
not wish to agitate society; they were reluctant 
to hurt men’s feelings by questioning the validity 

Q* 


34 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


of their pretensions. Such are the usual baits 
which Satan throws out to entrap men into error. 
Common sense and observation teach us, that the 
natural and only sure cure of difference of opin- 
ion, is candid examination. A course to which 
truth and sound reason never objected. But in 
order to reason, there must be conviction, and in 
order to conviction there must be inguiry and 
refiection. Otherwise, there is no alternative but 
the further and endless multiplication of sects; 
for there will always arise erratic spirits to draw 
away mankind from beaten paths, and the division 
which owes its origin to enthusiasm, is perpetuated 
by the violation of that principle which Christi- 
anity enjoins to “ prove all things and hold. fast 
that which is good.” The violation being per- 
petuated by those who are reared in the sect, or 
attracted to it by circumstances; and thus by 
the repetition of the process, this becomes the 
prolific parent of other and countless divisions - 
of the Christian name. 

But why should any wish to cover or conceal 
these divisions of Christianity, as if they were 
derogatory to the Gospel itself? The defect is 
not in the Gospel, but in the nature of man. 
There is nothing to be ashamed of, but the hu- 
man weakness and corruption—and the mischief 
arises in this case from the simple and patent 
fact, that men are held responsible for the exer- 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 35 


cise of their rational free-will in the concerns of 
religion, and that all men meet and fulfil this 
responsibility, as they discharge all other duties, 
with more or less fidelity and exactness. What 
reasonable man would find fault with the sun be- 
cause a cloud prevents the earth from reflecting 
his rays? Now the fault of these divisions is 
not with the luminary of the Gospel, but in the 
mists which are exhaled from man’s own earthly 
nature. It is permitted to his free-agency to 7¢- 
ject the Gospel, and we see that his folly avails 
itself of the permission. Is it strange then that 
he should also pervert, and distort, and mutilate 
it? Evidently if it is no stain upon the Gospel, 
that it does not exact irresistibly, a primary un- 
derstanding and acceptance from human reason, 
it can be no stain upon it, that it does not ir- 
resistibly exact a perfect and unanimous under- 
standing. Let us blush for ourselves, beloved 
brethren, and not for the Gospel. Let us en- 
deavor to cure the evil of division at its source, 
in the dereliction or neglect of duty, and not 
weakly cover it up, as if we were really ashamed 
of our religion. 

But, in the last place, if it be injurious to no- 
tice these divisions, how can it be that their ex- 
istence is beneficial? And yet this is jealously 
maintained by many, who are most disposed to 
throw a mantle over the unsightly spectacle of a 


36 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 


divided Christianity. And why is it deemed 
better for the common cause of Gospel truth and 
order that there should be differing sects? Be- 
cause, such divisions, it is alleged, tend to pre- 
serve the purity and vitality of Christianity— 
as the jealousy of rival political factions guards 
the great interests of free government. ‘This 
argument might be of some weight and force if 
Christ’s kingdom were of this world. But the 
illustration offered, and the inference based upon 
it, are discreditable to Christianity, and insulting 
to its author. The maxim, as thus developed, 
makes it expedient, for the interests of piety, to 
keep up between rival Christian bodies, that 
system of emulation and strife which thinking 
men have already discarded on moral grounds, 
from the intellectual training of school-boys. In 
plain terms, the Gospel according to the popular 
idea, is dependent for the preservation of its pu- 
rity and vitality, on mutual opposition and cen- 
sorious watchfulness among the sectarian frag- 
ments !—that is, on the works of the flesh which 
St. Paul says, are these—at least, in part— 
“hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, se- 
ditions, heresies.” In short, a certain offence 
called schism, of which we read in the New Tes- 
tament, has not only lost all its sinfulness in our 
day, but become a valuable instrument for sub- 
serving the interests of piety. Men have found 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 37 


out, it seems, that it is good for “the Church of 
the living God, the pillar and ground of the 
truth,” to be connected by disjunction—we must 
strengthen it by separation—we must purify it 
by contention—and revive it by convulsion ! 

Is this “the peace of Jerusalem,” for which 
we ought to pray? Is this the model of the 
Zion which “is as a city at wnity in itself?” Is 
this the way to detect false. Apostles and prove 
them to be liars? Is this the regard we are to 
pay to that last affecting prayer of our Saviour 
- for his followers, that they might “all be one,” 
even as he was one with the Father? Is this the 
way to obey the injunction of the Apostle, be- 
seeching us “by the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, that we all speak the same thing ”—that 
there be no divisions—no schismata—hliterally 
no sects, among us ? 


2 
a 


ALR PEN DIX: 


Tue editor of the preceding Discourse sought leave 
of its venerable author to add some reflections in an’ 
Appendix. His own interest in the Discourse, as well 
as his part in its publication, is due to the fact that he 
considers it a labor of love towards the family of 
Christ, having unusual promise. The discovery, which 
was not made till the editorial work was nearly com- 
pleted, that Bishop Otey’s name stands at the head of 
the Commission of Unity, appointed by the General 
Convention to consider the ‘‘ Memorial” proposition, 
revealed a coincidence singularly pleasing and hopeful. 
The editor considers the memorial movement, so eall- 
ed, as the most real and significant evidence of a pure 
desire for unity which has occurred in modern times, 
and the spirit in which that proposition was offered to 
Christian men, and the spirit with which it was met by 
the non-episcopal brethren, did much towards helping 
him to see where true unity is to be sought. 

It had been for a long time his own belief, or at 
least his hope, that denominational divisions did not 
violate essential unity, and it was not until he perceiv- 
ed that the denominational spirit was an element, seen 
and acknowledged to be indispensable to the continu- 
ance of denominational existence, that this fond hope 
was shown to be a delusion. He now asserts what he 
has seen to be the truth, that the spirit which is in the 
Church invites to unity, while the. spirit which is in- 


40 - APPENDIX. 


dispensable to the continuance of denominational re- 
ligion repels it. The feeling universal among Episcopal 
Christians towards their denominational eiten is 
one which needs no change in order to unity; the feel- 
ing on the part of one religious denomination towards 
another is such, and necessarily such, that no conceiy- 
able change of it could effect their union. What fol- 
lows? It follows that the question of unity is primarily 
a question of organization—that is, it is the question of 
the Church. Granting that the doctrinal differences 
among Churchmen are as great as our brethren say 
they are, they certainly are not greater than those 
among themselves, which they affirm do not violate 
unity—whenever then the various religious denomina- 
tions shall be able to spend three weeks together in a 
conciliary church-union, such as our last General Con- 
vention, and then go home without the revival of de- 
nominational esprit, it will be shown that the denomi- 
national principle affords equal hope of unity with 
that of the Church. 

The question of unity, let it be repeated for this day, 
is (the essential truths of Christian doctrme being 
granted) a question of Church organization. The Epis- 
copal body now shows, its enemies being judges, that 
the Christian family can be one in one FOLD; even 
as the domestic family can be one, and made one, and 
kept one in the same way, and in no other way. 

As such, it is a simple question of fact. Did our 
Saviour give and send an organization to His Church, 
or did He not? The question is decided by reading 
the New Testament records. The Episcopal Church 
holds, from these records, and has ever so held with- 
out one moments variation, that our Saviour did organ- 
ize His Church, and that he did so by “giving” and 
“ sending” an organization to it. Denominational 
Christianity holds, (at this time so universally that the 
exceptions only prove the rule) that the Church, that 
is God’s people, the Christian body, organizes itself. 
They all hold that in effecting such organization, they 


APPENDIX. 41 


should be guided by such principles of organization, 
or government, as may be gathered from the Sacred 
Scriptures. The difference between this view and that 
of the Church, is a difference not of degree but of 
kind; and that difference will be clearly brought out 
by the simple question, “‘ Did our Saviour, as a matter 
ot fact, give and send a ministry to His Church, or did 
the Christian congregation, at the outset, organize, and 
make its ministers?” The New Testament shows us 
that the Apostles were given and sent by the Lord to 
His Church,—shows us that the ministers which were 
made after them were made by them,—and shows not 
any instance in which a minister was made in any 
other way. 

' If the account given in the xiii. chap. of the Acts 
be that of an ordination, (and it is the only place in 
the New Testament which bears the ‘least appearance 
of the Church’s seeming to have made a minister,) 
then it is one which can be of no use to any known 
polity except it be that of the Irvingites. The minis- 
ters so apparently made by the congregation, were 
made (if it were so) to be Apostles, and to go forth 
and individually ordain ministers. 

Equally unavailing is the text in 1 Tim. iv. 14, whieh 
has been made the basis of the Presbyterian view of 
ordination. Granting that it was a presbytery which 
made Timothy a minister, a very few considerations 
will show that the text can be of no avail to any Pres- 
byterian polity which has ever existed : 

For, in the first place, the Presbyterian polity does 
not allow that any “ gift ” is imparted with ordination. 
Such an idea as that of the “ grace of orders,” is con- 
fessedly opposed to the entire Presbyterian system. 
That polity holds ordination to be a solemn setting 
apart of a candidate, who has by a punctual narrative 
of his religious experience and of his motives in seek- 
ing the ministry, made good to the Presbytery a judg- 
ment of probability that he has been called of God, 
and upon that decision, that is, as of one already made 


42. APPENDIX. 


a minister in every real and true sense, they proceed 
to commission him by the laying on of hands. The 
Apostolic custom is kept up, but it is explicitly denied 
that grace is conveyed by the act. It assuredly is not 
according to the phraseology of modern defenders of 
this way of ordination, to say to a candidate, after the 
ceremony, “remember the gift that is in thee by the 
laying on of our hands.” 

But, in the second place, if Timothy was, in any 
sense, made a minister by a Presbytery, he was made 
such a minister as that he could go and make a Pres- 
bytery. But such a thing as this has never been con- 
templated by any Presbyterian polity in the world. 
This would be making Timothy a prelate, which is the 
identical thing that the Presbyterian polity holds im- 
possible, unscriptural, and pernicious. Nevertheless, 
Timothy did go and make a Presbytery at Ephesus, 
and if he did so in virtue of the Presbyterian ordina- 
tion claimed for him, then he did that which certainly 
has never been done since by virtue of such ordination. 
What right then has the Presbyterian polity, which 
comes so immensely short of the powers of the Pres- 
bytery whick laid hands on Timothy, to claim any 
warrant for itself thereby ? 

But, it has been held by most of the Presbyterian 
writers of Scotland and of our own country, that Tim- 
othy did not go to Ephesus to form a Presbytery, but 
to constitute a Church-session, that is, to ordain “ rul- 
ing” elders. The reasons for taking this view are 
manifest, for if the elders already at Ephesus were 
other than “ruling” elders, then there was the ordain- 
ing power on the spot, and why should Timothy go 
there bearing that power? Suppose, however, that 
Timothy did go to Ephesus merely to take charge of a 
congregation, and to constitute a Church-session for 
them by ordaining ruling elders and deacons. Did 
this make a Presbyterian Church-session? If so, every 
actual Presbyterian polity has greatly neglected its 
own Scriptures. Where is a Presbyterian minister 


APPENDIX. 43 


authorized to orparn a ruling elder? Where directed 
to do so, as Timothy did, by THE LAYING ON oF HANDs ? 
No Presbytery would dare to tell him to do it, for in 
so doing he would make himself a preLatn. 

And yet that very ruling elder, which the Presby- 
tery will not ordain, nor dares suffer a pastor to ordain, 
nor allow to join in ordaining others, is passed on in 
actual practice, to the exercise of no less a function 
than that of judging of the qualifications of applicants 
for the communion!, Set to rule and govern in the 
Church of God, to watch over the spiritual interests 
of the flock, leading prayer meetings, exhorting con- 
gregations, questioning candidates as to their spiritual 
exercises, making use in reality of a far deeper assump- 
tive prerogative than Timothy’s elders, or Timothy 
himself, ever thought of—and yet having no ordina- 
tion! O how strange that such an anomaly should be 
able to co-exist with the thoughtfulness and worth 
which have characterized the many venerable names 
of Presbyterian divines! There has never yet existed 
that Presbytery which has been able to define a ruling 
elder, and yet, that indefinable functionary is allowed 
to exercise an assumption of powers as it respects ap- 
plicants for the “sealing ordinances of the Church,” 
which few bishops have ever thought of using. 

But the Presbyterian polity is at fault again at 
another point, as it respects any actual verisimilitude 
between its elders, and those ordained by Timothy. It 
is enjoined, in the 17th verse of the 5th chapter of the 
same Epistle, that those of them who rule well, espe- 
cially if they labor also in the word and doctrine, shall 
receive double honor. What this means the next 
verse will show. Where then is the Presbyterian con- 
gregation which gives pecuniary support to its elders 
—even to such of them as labor in exhortation, (for 
that is all that is left for the laboring in word and doc- 
trine to mean, if so be, Timothy did not make a Pres- 
bytery at Ephesus?) Here again is one of those in- 
consistencies which, it is astonishing, has not more 


* 


44 APPENDIX. 


impressed the minds of thoughtful men. The ruling 
elder principally stands out as one whose business it is 
to watch over the approach to the altar. How natural, 
should one suppose, would be the mental association, 
‘“‘ why is he not allowed to live of the altar.” 

But, in the third and last place, we know by Divine 
revelation, precisely what kind of a Presbytery it was 
which ordained Timothy, and that it was one which the 
Presbyterian polity explicitly denies to have any post- 
apostolic continuance. The gift which was in Timoth 
was by the laying on of an Apostle’s hands, together 
with that of the Presbytery. 

How then can the Presbyterian polity, which in the 
same breath considers prelacy, and. apostolical succession 
as the most hurtful errors which have overlaid the trne 
ecclesiastical system, find any warrant for itself, either 
in that which was done to Timothy before he went to 
Ephesus, or in that which he did when he came there ? 
Assuredly it has no Presbytery which would care to 
make a prelate, and it makes no minister which it 
would suffer to make a Presbytery, nay, nor a Church- 
session “ by the laying on of hands.” 

If, however, it is allowed, as it is by late Presbyterian 
writers (who are more and more giving up the dis- 
tinctive defence of the system, and assuming congre- 
gational ground) that Timothy was a special messenger 
bearing a peculiar gift of God by the laying on of the 
Apostle’s hands, to the Christian believers at Ephesus, 
then everything is granted which the simple truth 
requires—which is, that Timothy was qualified thereby 
to be an ordaining, evangelist, messenger, ambassador, 
angel, that is to say, bzshop, over the Ephesian Churches. 
Such he was, and as such he acted, for he there or- 
dained chosen men to be presbyters and deacons in the 
Chureh of God, by the laying on of his hands, he 
exercised rule, discipline, and authority over them, he 
set in order the things that were wanting, he arranged 
the liturgy and customs of the churches. 

Should not then this single case be decisive for the 


APPENDIX. 45 


candid inquirer?~ The Epistles to Timothy contain 
more on the subject of church government than any 
others in the Bible. There is one theory which finds 
itself perfectly at home with the whole, and with every 
part of them—it is that which holds the three orders 
in the ministry, of which bishops are the ordainers, the 
others the ordained. There is no other theory which 
can quote these Epistles without incessant contradic- 
tions to itself, violence to the Scriptures involved, and 
tergiversations in argument and practice as compared 
with the texts claimed. 


The question of unity is the question of the Church ; 
the Christian body is to be one in one fold. The day will, 
indeed, come when they shall be one in feeling, but the 
New Testament shows that this is to be brought about 
primarily and effectually, by means of their being one 
wm fact, which is only another way of saying, one in 
organization or ministry. This organization is desig- 
nated and characterized by the name Apostolic. That 
is to say, the Apostles are the foundation stones which 
mark and distinguish the outlines, and occasion the 
phenomenal existence of that tangible, actual, ap- 
proachable, body, society, building, which is the 
Christian fold, the Church of God seen among men. 
To have a church which is not apostolic, and so made 
visible, that is, which is not organized in the Apostles 
Sélowship, as well as doctrine, is certainly not to have 
the Church which was revealed at Pentecost. If it is, 
then the Society of Orthodox Friends may be as much 
the Church as any other. 

The objection most popular at the present day to 
this foundation doctrine of apostolic succession is, that 
bishops do not show forth the apostolic signs of inspi- 
ration and miracle. But this objection, if it have 
force at all, will have force against any ministry in 
the Church, equally as against the ministry through 
bishops. 


46 APPENDIX. 


It is manifest at a glance into the New Testament, 
that the entire ministerial commission was given by 
our Lord to His Apostles, and derived through them 
to others. The command to baptize, to preach, to com- 
memorate the holy Eucharist, to rule, to send, was 
given to the Apostles, and there is no evidence that 
any one of these, as ministerial functions, was ever 
performed by any except such as had derived the com- 
mission to do so, by the laying on of an Apostles hands. 

Equally so, the descriptions appellative, of the Chris- 
tian minister, such as pastor, steward, ambassador, and 
the like,—these are Apostolic descriptions. Look, for 
example, at the proof-texts for the work and warrant. 
of the ministry, as given in the confessional books of 
every Christian body, claiming to have a visible min- 
istry, and it will be found, without exception, that 
they are texts descriptive of Apostles, or else of those 
who had derived their power to minister from Apostles. 
All ministerial functions involve an Apostolic claim, 
otherwise they have not so much as a show of validity 
from the word of God. 

The demand, therefore, is equally legitimate upon a 
Congregational or Presbyterian Clergyman, as upon a 
Bishop. “Show us the Apostolic signs of inspiration 
and miracles, for these your claims to Apostolic texts 
and functions.” These functions, such as preaching, 
administering the Sacraments, ordaining, ruling, ex- 
communicating—are in actual exercise by the ministry 
of every religious body, and there is not a shadow of 
warrant for them except as derived by Apostolic suc- 
cession. The objection, therefore, if valid at all, abol- 
ishes the Christian ministry. 'That is to say, it abol- 
ishes that ordinance of Christ, and the Holy Spirit 
which was sent into the world to the end the Church 
of God might be gathered, built up, and sanctified. 

More even than this. The objection to Apostolic 
succession as thus brought against the bishoprick, must 
if valid, not only abolish each and every Christian 
ministry, but it invalidates the present identity of every 


APPENDIX. 47 


Christian body as claiming to possess the faith of the 
Pentecostal Church. It is manifest at a glance into 
the New Testament, that neither the gift of inspira- 
tion, nor that of miracles, was peculiar to the Apostles, 
but pervaded the entire body of the primitive pos- 
sessors of the faith. If then, these gifts are essential 
to the Episcopal, or ministerial succession, they are 
equally so to any identical succession of the body of 
Christian believers. 

The objection drawn from the absence of inspiration 
and miracle, as coming from a member of the Society 
of Friends, places every ceremonially ordained minis- 
ter, in that respect, upon one and the same footing. 
As coming from the lips of an unbeliever, it includes 
every protessor of the Christian religion. 

We know not but the time may come when the Pen- 
tecostal wonders of the Church shall be repeated, and 
the miraculous working of the Heavenly Power be 
again made 1anifest to the senses of men. If it should, 
if as at the first we should find elders miraculously 
healing the sick, and casting out devils, deacons en- 
dowed with wonder-working power of argument, con- 
vincing gainsayers, and private Christians speaking 
with tongues and prophesying, then may we expect to 
find bishops also endowed with meet proportion of the 
general succession. : 

It was not peculiar to the Apostles to be good men, 
or to be learned men, or to be inspired men, or to be 
workers of miracles. It was not peculiar to the Apos- 
tles to be witnesses of the resurrection, nor to compose 
the canon of Scripture. It was their original and 
heaven-descended peculiarity to be the ministers of the 
New Testament, and to ordain others into that minis- 
try, to the end the Chureh of God might be built up 
in the world. So also, now, as the preceding discourse 
so clearly shows, it is not the question as to a man’s 
goodness, or wisdom, or learning, or success, (these are 
found wherever good men are found, and they are 
found as much out of the ministry, in all cases, as in 


48 APPENDIX. 


it,) which forms the primary distinction of the New 
Testament ministry. As the question of unity is the 
question of the visible Church, so the question of the 
ministry whereby that Church is organized into visi- 
bility is the question of Apostolic succession. 

The editor did not intend to attach so many words 
of his own to this most forcible and conclusive Dis- 
course, but if the part which he has assumed in its 
publication, may at least not hinder its expected good 
effect, he shall rest satisfied. May the Spirit of all 
grace so deign to bless the work as that these expecta- 
tions, formed in humble dependence upon His sover- 
eign goodness, may not be wholly disappointed. 


O Gop the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only 
Saviour, the Prince of Peace ; Give us grace seriously 
to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our un- 
happy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, 
and whatsoever else may hinder us from Godly union 
and concord ; that as there is but one Body, and one 
Spirit, and one Hope of our calling, one Lord, one 
Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so 
we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one 
soul, united in one holy bond of Truth and Peaee, of 
Faith and Charity, and may with one mind and one 
mouth glorify Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 


THE END. 


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DISCOURSE 


ON THE 


DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, 


DELIVERED IN THE CHAPEL, BROMFIELD LANE, 


DECEMBER 31, 1326. 


By JOSEPH A. MERRILL. 


“There are three that bear record in heaven.” 


PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE QUARTERLY MEETING CONFERENCE. 


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PRINTED BY T. R. MARVIN, CONGRESS STREET. 
1827. 


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MatrHew, 111. 16, 17. 


And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the 
water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw 
the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
him: and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased. 


Tue doctrine of the Trinity lies at the foundation 
of Christianity. Deny this and we are utterly at a loss 
how to understand a large portion of the Bible. Itisa 
doctrine that has been received as one of the first articles 
of Chistian faith in every age of the church. It is con- 
tained in all the creeds, ancient and modern, that have 
reached us; and though it has been denied, yet the num- 
ber of those who have denied it, bears no proportion to 
the number who have embraced and defended it. 

Although the general assent of Christians to the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, is not of itself, sufficient proof of the 
doctrine, yet it is good collateral evidence, and surely is 
a reason why its friends should be treated with more 
modesty, and less acrimony than has, in some instances, 
appeared in the discourses and writings of its enemies. 

We rest our belief of the truth of this doctrine upon 
the scriptures ; and as we consider it to be clearly re- 
vealed there, we most cordially embrace it. Nor do we 


4 


consider it our prerogative to reject this doctrine because 
it is mysterious. We are assured in our own minds, 
that if God has revealed it, it cannot be absurd. While 
we yield a ready assent to many things in the natural 
world, though there are mysteries connected with their 
existence not to be explored or fathomed by finite minds, 
Wwe cannot reject the precious doctrine of the Trinity in 
Unity because we cannot understand more of it than God 
in his wisdom has seen fit to reveal. As we cannot with 
our arms encompass the world, so with our thoughts we 
cannot comprehend Deity. 

Mystery is neither an object of our faith, nor an objec- 
tion to it. Mind and matter constitute the being we call 
man. This we believe. But how these contrary principles 
are united so as to act together we cannot tell. We can 
give but a poor account of muscular motion. Who can in- 
form us how the soul acts upon the muscles of the body, 
so as to produce a motion of the hand or of the foot? We 
believe there is a God, who existed from eternity, and 
who fills immensity ; but we can comprehend neither of 
these attributes. Here is as great a mystery as that of 
the Trinity in Unity. 

That there are in the Godhead three distinctions called 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that these three are 
essentially and truly the one God, we believe ; but of the 
mode of their union we know nothing and we believe 
nothing. While the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is 
clearly revealed in the scriptures, the mode of the divine 
existence is not revealed. ‘The former is, therefore, an 
object of our faith as a revealed matter of fact, but the 
latter is concealed from our knowledge. Nor do we 
see any absurdity here. If indeed we were to affirm that 
three are one and one is three; or that the persons in the 
Godhead are three in the same sense in which they 
are one, and one in the same sense in which they are 
three ; it would be a contradiction, an absurdity, and 
could not be an article of faith. But to say they are 
three in one sense, and one in another, involves neither 
contradiction nor absurdity. 


§ 


As to the word persons, which we apply to the dis- 
tinctions in the Godhead, although not found in the scrip- 
tures, yet it is a very convenient term, and, if cautiously 
used, is not in its import, unscriptural. But we can no 
more define the divine personality, than the divine nature. 
God is not a man; therefore the word person, when ap- 
plied te him, cannot bear the same signification as when 
applied to man. God is not a creature ; therefore the 
word person, when applied to him, cannot bear the same 
signification as when applied to a creature. God is in 
his nature and the mode of his existence, unlike all other 
beings ; and, therefore, personality, when applied to him, 
must be unlike personality in any other case in which we 
are acquainted with it, or can define it. His existence 
and personality are peculiar to himself. And it is con- 
ceived there is no more absurdity in ascribing personality 
to Deity, than in ascribing positive existence to him; for 
the latter of these terms is as inexplicable as the former, 
when so applied. 

The same may be said of the words Trinity and Unity 
when applied to the Divine Being. He is three and he 
is one. But in what sense he is three, or in what sense 
he is one, we cannot tell. ‘These are human terms, and 
convey human ideas. ‘They are applied to God in the 
scriptures ; but not in the same sense in which they are 
applied to men. ‘This shows the inconsistency of those 
who reject the doctrine of the Trinity, while they contend 
for the doctrine of the Divine Unity. Unity is a human 
term, and we cannot say that it is any more applica- 
ble to the divine nature than the word Trinity. There 
is doubtless a sufficient analogy between created intelli- 
gences and the Creator, to justify the use of this lan- 
puage. But then it should always be used with humility, 
remembering that we cannot find out the Almighty to 
perfection. 

To attempt a precise definition of the words person, 
Trinity, and Unity, in their application to Deity, would 
_ be ample proof of the arrogancy and presumption of the 
human mind, and could not be regarded as any thing less 


6 


than an attempt to humanize the divine perfections, or 
to deify weak and erring man. 

With these observations in view, and we trust with 
corroborating feelings and dispositions of heart, let us 
approach our subject, and endeavor to show from the 
scriptures of truth, Ist, that there are three distinct per- 
_ sons in the Godhead ; and 2d, that these three persons 
are one God. 


I. That there are three distinct persons in the God- 
head. | 

Our text is proof of this proposition. The Son of God 
was baptized of John in Jordan, the Holy Ghost de- 
scended upon him like a dove, and the Father was heard 
to speak from heaven at the same time saying, this is my 
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. ‘These diffe- 
rent actions as clearly designate a distinction of persons 
in the Godhead, as different actions can designate a dis- 
tinction of persons in any case that can be named. 

To consider this subject more particularly, we shall 
observe, 

1. That personality belongs to the Father. Christ is 
said to be the brightness of the glory, and the express im- 
age of the person of God; which he could not be if 
personality did not belong to God. 

As the personality of the Father is not a subject of 
dispute ; and as it will recieve sufficient proof from the 
personality of the Word, or Son of God, we shall not 
dwell upon it, but proceed, ; 

2. To consider the personality of the Son. 

Father and Son are relative terms, and if Father im- 
plies personality, Son must also imply it. We shall not 
in this place undertake to determine whether Christ be 
‘the Son of God by eternal generation, or in reference to 
his incarnation merely ; but shall maintain this simple 
proposition ; that his relation to the Father as Son, in 
whatever sense it is understood, must necessarily imply 
personality. 

That personality belongs to the Son is evident, not 


Wd 


only from the relation he bears to the Father, but also 
from the offices he sustains and the actions he performs 
for us as our mediator. He is begotien, sent, and com- 
manded by the Father; he obeys the Father, and offers 
himself unto God as a sacrifice for sin; he is raised from 
the dead and sits on the right hand of God; he has 
received from God the Father a kingdom and power 
over all things in heaven and upon earth ; this kingdom 
he is to give up to the Father ; the Father hath appoint- 
ed him to judge the world ; and finally all things are to 
be put under the Son, with the exception of him who is 
to put all things under him. ‘These actions clearly and 
necessarily mark the Son as a distinct person from the 
Father. ‘This would not be denied by the Socinians or 
Unitarians, who consider Jesus Christ either as a man 
‘merely, or, at most, as a created divinity. 

3. But the grand question respecting personality re- 
lates to the Holy Spirit. Those who deny the doctrine 
of the Trinity, affirm that the Holy Spirit is not a dis- 
tinct person from the Father and the Son, but is merely 
a property or operation of God. It will, therefore, be 
proper for us to be more full and particular here, and to 
show that the offices and operations of the Spirit clearly 
designate him a distinct person in the Godhead. 

All those passages of scripture, which distinguish three 
persons in the Godhead, are so many evidences that the 
| Holy Spirit is a distinct person, and not a mere property 
or operation of God. Thus the angel to the virgin moth- 
er, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the pow- 
er of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that 
|holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the 
'|Son of God.” Luke i. 35. In this passage, the ‘ Holy 
)|Ghost,” is as clearly distinguished from the ‘“ power of 
)|the Highest,” as from the “ Son of God,” who was con- 
iiceived under his operation. ‘And I will pray’ the 
i|Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he 
jhmay abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth,” &c. 
John xiv. 16, 17. Nothing can be plainer than that 
i three persons are here described, and the Holy Ghost is 


5 


not only distinguished by his proper appellation, “* The 
Comforter,” but by his being sent by the Father, and 
abiding with Christians. In another place, Jesus Christ 
speaks of himself as sending the Comforter from the 
Father, who, says he, ‘shall testify of me.”’ John xv. 
26. St. Paul, with equal clearness, has taught the same 
trath. ‘If the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from 
the dead dwell in you.” Rom. viii. 11. In this text the 
Spirit as a person, is clearly distinguished both from Jesus 
who was raised from the dead, and from him who raised 
him. So in the following passage,—‘ But ye are washed, 
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 
vi. 11. Here again the Spirit is distinguished both from 
the *‘ Lord Jesus,’? and “ our God ;” and his office and 
work mark him as a distinct person in the Godhead, 
since it is by him that we are washed, sanctified and 
justified. The same important truth is taught by the 
apostle in his epistle to the Ephesians. ‘ For through 
him,” the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘we both have access by 
one Spirit unto the Father.” Here also the Holy Ghost 
is not only distinguished by name from the Father and 
the Son, but is marked as a distinct person by a dis- 
tinct agency in the work of our salvation. Ephe. ii. 18. 
See also the 22, verse. ‘In whom,” that is in Christ, 
‘‘ye also are builded together for an habitation of God 
through the Spirit.” 

St. Peter is no less explicit upon this head. “ Elect 
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and 
sprikling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” 1 Pet. i 2. 
Nothing can possibly be clearer than a distinction of 
persons in this text. Here we see the Father electing 
according to his own foreknowledge; the Son shedding 
his blood; and the Spirit sprinkling that blood upon the 
hearts of the unclean. , 

That the Holy Ghost is a distinct person and not an 
operation of Deity, is evident from the form prescribed 
for our baptism. ‘Go ye therefore,” says Jesus to his 


9 


apostles, ‘and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost.” It would be the perfection of absurdity, to say 
that Christ commissioned his apostles to baptize in the 
name of three properties or operations of God, and not in 
the name of the Trinity. And if we allow the Father to 
be a person, we must allow the Son and Holy Spirit fo 
be persons also. . There is precisely the same reason for 
ascribing personality to the latter as to the former. 
Does this form of administration express the will and 
authority of him in whose name we are baptized ? 
Then it expresses the will and authority of three persons, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Does it re- 
quire that we devote ourselves to, and worship him in 
whose name we are baptized? ‘Then we are to devote 
ourselves to, and worship the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost. Thus in whatever sense we consider these 
words, a Trinity of persons is presented to our view, and 
the Holy Ghost, is as really a person as the Father or 
the Son. Matt. xxviii. 19. We discover the same doc- 
trine in the form of benediction used by the apostle, 
2 Cor. xii. 14, “ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
Ghost be with you aJl, Amen.” As certainly as we are 
blessed in the name of God, we are blessed in the name 


_ of the Trinity ; and the Holy Ghost is as truly a person 


as the Father or the Son. This we must allow, or say 
that we are blessed in the name of three properties or 


| operations of Deity! But the apostle clearly distin- 
| guishes between the Holy Ghost and his operations, ‘“ A 


diversity of operations, but the same Spirit.” 1 Cor. xii. 
4—6. To deny the personality of the Holy Ghost here, 
would be to renounce both our own reason and the word 
of God. Agency and operation, necessarily imply _per- 


sonality. And the Holy Ghost is represented in the scrip- 


tures as the agent and author of his own operations. 
We may argue the same truth from the testimony or 


witness which the Holy Ghost bears with our spirits. 


ro) 


- 


10 


“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits that 
we are the children of God.” Rom. vii. 16. And be- 
cause ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. iv. 6. 
The plain import of this teaching or witness of the Spirit 
is, that the Father is reconciled to us through the Son ; 
so that we have a plain demonstration of the doctrine 
of the Trinity, and of the personality of the Spirit, 
brought home to our hearts in our own experience: 

Finally, the same important truth is taught in a great 
variety of places in the holy Scriptures, where actions 
are ascribed to the Spirit which must imply personality ; 
as his reproving the world of sin, enlightening and renew- 
ing the mind; strengthening, comforting, sanctifying, 
and leading into all truth; making intercession in us and 
helping our infirmities; his bemg grieved; his calling 
and qualifying the ministers of the gospel, governing the 
church, &c. If these actions do not imply personality, 
it will be difficult for us to give any rational account 
of personality ; and if, when we read of the Spirit of 
God, the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Spirit, we must 
understand something figurative ; it will be impossible 
for us to fix on any rules, for the interpretation of the 
Bible; and that blessed book which was given us from 
heaven, to be a light to our feet and a lamp to our path, 
becomes an ignis fatuus, and betrays us into error and 
misery: 

It appears from the Scriptures, that the Holy Ghost 
‘¢ was in the beginning engaged with God in the crea- 
tion of the natural world—that he is equally the Spirit 
of God and of Christ—that he proceeded both from the 
one and the other—that it was he who led the Israelites 
in the wilderness, and gave them rest after their forty 
years travel—that if we are to be baptized in the name of 
the Father, and the Son, so also in the name of the Holy 
Ghost—that if we are blessed in the name of the Father 
and the Son, so also in the name of the Holy Ghost 
—that he alone it was who formed the body of Jesus— 


that he conducted Christ in all the actions of his life— 


11 


that he enabled him to work miracles at his own plea- 
sure, and finally raised him from the dead, as he will be 
the agent in raising the bodies of the whole human race 
at the last day—that it is he who strives with the hearts 
of men, illuminating, convincing, reproving, restraining, 
and drawing from sin and folly to wisdom, piety, and 
truth——that it is he who dwells in the hearts of his 
people as in a temple, claiming our obedience and adora- 
tion—that all the qualifications of the apostles and 
evangelists, for the great work in which they were 
engaged, were from him—that he enlightened, warmed, 
and fortified their minds, enabling them to speak strange 
languages, to work wonders in confirmation of the doc- 
trines they taught, to foretel future events, to speak with 
wisdom and courage before kings, and confirm their 
testimony in every way that was suitable with the divine 
understanding—that this same blessed Spirit is also the 
inspirer of all ingenious arts and inventions, the reviver 
of the languishing powers of nature, and the infuser of 
courage and fortitude into the minds of men—that he is 
the author of all moral and religious excellence, grace, 
wisdom, knowledge, goodness, piety, truth,—and what- 
ever else can make us holy and happy here, and prepare 
us for glory and felicity hereafter—that the prophets and 
apostles spake only as they were moved by him; and to 
him we are indebted for all their invaluable writings— 
that finally, it is his peculiar office to reveal Christ in 
our minds, and that no man can properly say, that Jesus 
is Lord, but by a power derived from him. “It is im- 
possible to prove the Father to be a person, or the Son 
to be a person, in any other way than we may prove the 
Holy Ghost to be so. For he to whom all personal 
properties, adjuncts, and operations are ascribed, and to 
whom nothing is ascribed but what properly belongs to 
a person, he is a person; and so we are taught to be- 
lieve him to be. Thus we know the Father to bea 
person, and the Son also ; for our knowledge of things is 
more by their properties, than by their essential forms. 
There is no personal property belonging to the Divine 


12 


nature, that is not in one place of scripture or other 
ascribed to the Holy Spirit. ' 

‘¢ If a wise and honest man should come and tell you, 
that in a certain country where he had been, there is an 
excellent governor, who wisely discharges the duties of 
his office ; who hears causes, discerns right, distributes 
justice, relieves the poor, and comforts the afflicted ; 
would you not believe that he intended by this descrip- 
tion, a righteous, wise, diligent, and imtelligent person ? 
What else could any man living imagine ? 

‘‘ But now suppose a stranger, or a person of suspi- 
cious character and credit, should come and say, that the 
former information which you had received was indeed 
true, but that no man or person was intended, but the 
sun or the wind, which by their benign influences, ren- 
dered the country fruitful and temperate, and disposed 
the inhabitants to mutual kindness and benignity ; and, 
therefore, the whole description of a governor and his 
actions, was merely figurative, though no such intimation 
had been given you. Must you not conclude, either that 
the first person was a notorious trifler, and designed 
your ruin, if your affairs depended on his report ; or that 
your latter informer, whose veracity you had reason to 
suspect, had endeavoured to abuse both you and him? 
it is exactly thus in the case before us. The scriptures 
tell us, that the Holy Ghost governs the church ; ap- 
points overseers of it; discerns and judges all things ; 
comforts the weak; is grieved and provoked by sin; 
that in these, and many other affairs, he works, orders | 
and disposes all things, according to the counsel of his’ 
own will. Can any man credit this testimony, and con-— 
ceive otherwise of the Spirit, than as a holy, wise, intel- : 
ligent person? Now while we are under the power of 
these apprehensions, there come to us some men, whom 
we have just reason to suspect of falsehood and deceit, 
and they tell us that what the scriptures say of the Holy 
Ghost is indeed true, but that no such person is mtended 
by these expressions, but only an accident, or quality, 
an effect, or influence of the power of God, which doth 


18 


all these things figuratively ; that he has a well fgura- 
tively, an understanding figuratively, is sinned against 
figuratively ; and so of all that is said of him. Now 
What can any man, not bereft of his natural reason as 
well as spiritual light, conclude? but either that the 
scriptures designed to draw him into fatal errors, or that 
those who impose such a sense upon them, are corrupt 
seducers, who would rob him of his faith and comfort ? 
Such will they at last appear to be.’’* 

The foregoing considerations not only support the per- 
sonality of the Holy Ghost, but also his divinity. 

We shall now proceed to some passages which clearly 
recognise the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead. 
** Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in 
whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon 
him.” Isa. xlii. 1. The Father is here the speaker, the 
Son the elect servant, and the Holy Spirit is put upon 
that servant to qualify him for his office. This is the 
Trinity. The same appears in the following words. 
‘“¢ Now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me.” Isa. 
xlviii. 16. Here is Christ represented as being sent by 
the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

‘¢ For the Lord said, surely they are my people, childre 
that will not lie: so he was their Saviour,—The Angel 
of his presence saved them.—-But they rebelled, and vexed 
his Holy Spirit ; therefore he was turned to be their en- 
emy, and fought against them.” Isa. Ixiii. 8—10. The 
Lord, here. is the Father; the Angel of his presence is 
the Son; and the Holy Spirit, the third in the Trinity, is 
he, who was vexed by the Israelites. 

We are taught the same doctrine by the prophet Hag- 
gai. “fam with you, saith the Lord of hosts ;—my 
Spirit remaineth among you; fear not. For thus saith 
the Lord of hosts,—I will shake all nations; and the 
desire of all nations shall come.” Hag. ii. 7. Here we 
have the three sacred persons again distinctly mentioned. 
The Lord of hosts, the first; the Divine Spirit, the se- 
cond ; and the desire of all nations, the third ; who is no 


* Simpson’s Deity of Christ, p. 344, &c. 


14 


other than the Son of God. But to proceed. ‘“ While 
he thought on these things, the angel said—that which is 
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost,—and thou shalt 
call his name Jesus.” Matt. i. 20,21. Here we have the 
Lord, the Holy Ghost, and the Son Jesus. See also 
Matt. iii. 9—11. Where we find God, the Messiah, and 
the Holy Ghost. In the following passages we have a 
sensible demonstration of the same doctrme. ‘“ His 
father Zachariah was filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ; 
for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath 
raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his 
servant David.”? Luke, i. 67--69. “It was revealed 
unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see 
death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Luke, ii. 
26. ‘He came by the Spzrit into the temple—and when 
the parents brought in the child Jesus, he took him up in 
his arms and blessed God.’ Luke; i. 27, 28. The at- 
tentive hearer cannot fail of discovering the three persons 
of the Divine Nature in these texts, without an observa- 
tion to that purpose. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
me.” Luke, iv. 18. The speaker here is the Messiah. 
‘‘ Behold I send the Promise of my Father, the comforter, 
upon you.” Luke, xxiv. 49. It is Christ who speaks 
here. See also John i. 33, 34, and xiv. 16, 26. “As 
my Father hath sent me, even so send | you,—receive ye 
the Holy Ghost.” John, xx. 21, 22. ‘+ Now I beseech 
you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for 
the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in 
your prayers to God for me.” 2 Cor. 1. 21, 22. and iui. 
3, 16, 17. “ Through him,” Christ, “we both have 
access by one Spurit unto the Father.” Eph. ii. 18. “I 
bow my knees unto the Futher of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that he would grant you to be strengthened with might 
by his Spirit in the inner man.” Eph. m. 14, 15. 
‘“‘ Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God—and be kind,—for- 
giving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath 
forgiven you.” Eph. iv. 18, 20. ‘ The acknowledg- 
ment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of 


lo 


Christ.” Col. ii. 2.“ Be filled with the Spirit—giving 
thanks unto God, and the Father, in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph. v. 18, 20. 

These are indeed but a few passages of scripture, in 
comparison with those that might be produced, did our 
limits permit, which go directly to prove the doctrine of 
the Trinity. Being confident that what has been said, 
establishes the point beyond reasonable contradiction, we 
shall now attempt, 


II. To show that these three persons are one God. 

Although Christians in general hold that there are 
three persons in the Godhead, or Divine Nature, yet they 
do not hold that there are three Gods, but one only. 
And we are under no apprehensions, but they will be 
found the only consistent Bible Unitarians who hold this 
doctrine. For it wholly destroys the unity of the Divine 
Nature, to maintain the doctrine of a created, subordi- 
nate, dependant divinity. 

There are many things in nature, which, though they 
cannot prove, or fully illustrate our subject, yet may help 
us to conceive of a Trinity in Unity. There are in every 
piece of matter, (the human body for instance,) three in- 
separable properties, length, breadth, and thickness, yet 
but one body. We discover three inseparable properties ~ 
in the human soul, understanding, memory, and will, and 
yet but one soul. In every human person there is a 
threefold life, spiritual, animal, and vegetative, and yet 
but one person. The sun, “‘is one in essence, and is 
the great fountain and source of both light and heat to 
the natural world. As it is the fountain and source of 
all its properties, it may be considered as representing the 
eternal Father, who is the fountain of Deity, and the 
great original of all being. The light which issues from 
the sun, may be considered as representing the second 
person in the divine nature ; for our Saviour is called the 
light of the world, and the Sun of righteousness ; and the 
heat proceeding from the sun, and which accompanies 
the light, may be considered as representing the Holy 


16 


Spirit, the third person in the Divine Nature, who pro- 
ceeds both from the Father and the Son, and gives light 
to the world. The light and heat both proceed from the 
sun. Unless the sun existed, there could not be either 
the one or the other. 

‘¢ And on the other hand, if there is a sun in the firma- 
ment, there must be both light and heat ; for it is of the 
very nature of that vast body, to produce these two pro- 
perties. So that the sun, hght, and heat, are co-existent, 
they cannot be divided. As long as there is a sun, there 
must be its essential properties. The sun, indeed, is not 
the light, neither the heat, but it is the cause and source 
of both. They are all distinct, yet undivided. The 
sun depends not on the light, or heat, or both for its ex- 
istence ; but yet it cannot be without them; they are, as 
we said before, its essential properties ; and if it could 
be supposed to loose these properties, it would cease to 
be a sun.”’”* : 

Although these illustrations, may help us to conceive 
that three may be one and one three in different senses, 
yet they prove nothing ; we therefore appeal to the law 
and the testimony; If they speak not according to this 
word it is because there is no light in them. 

It has generally been considered sufficient in proving 
the doctrine of the Trinity, to establish the Divinity of 
Jesus Christ ; because those who admit a second person 
in the Godhead, can have no objection to the admission 
of a third. But we shall on the present occasion, take a 
different course, and consider the divinity of the second 
and third persons in the Godhead, and then prove a_ 
Trinity of persons in Unity, by such scriptural evidences 
as clearly recognise this doctrine. 

The divinity of Jesus Christ, the second person in the 
Godhead, is abundantly established in a large number of 
passages, where he is expressly called God, and “in 
such a manner, as that according to the fair rules of in- 
terpretation, only the Supreme Gop can be meant.” 
Thus John, i. 1, “In the beginning was the word, and 


* Simpson’s Deity of Christ, p. 29. 


17 . 


the word was with God, and the word was God.” Rom. 
ix. 5, “Who is over all, God blessed forever, Amen.” 
1 John, v. 20, “ And we know that the Son of God 
is come, and hath given us an understanding, that 
we may know him that is true; and we are in hm 
that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the 
true God, and eternal life.” John, xx. 28, ‘“ And 
Thomas said unto him, my Lord and my God.” Heb. i. 
8, “‘ But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne O God is 
forever and ever.””* 

These, are indeed, but a small part of the passages 
even in the New Testament, which assert the Supreme 
Godhead of Christ; but if there were no others, these 
are amply sufficient to establish the doctrine. For it 
should be remembered that the truth of a doctrine of 
revelation stands not on the number of passages which 
assert it; but on the explicitness of the word of God 
in relation to it. We do well, however, to’ observe, that 
the word Jenovan, which is so frequently applied to 
the supreme, self-existent God, and necessarily implies 
self-existence ; 1s also in a great variety of places, ap- 
plied to Jesus Christ. 

For satisfaction on this point, I would refer you to 
the discourse upon the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ, 
delivered before the New-England Conference, at Bath, 
Maine, June 1822; and which, if attentively perused, 
cannot fail to produce conviction on this head. 

The same divine authority which establishes our faith 
in other respects, does it in this. We are taught by the 
scriptures to ascribe divine attributes to Jesus Christ, 
which could not be done, if he were not the Supreme God. 

Ommniscience is ascribed to Jesus Christ. He knows 
what is in man, he knows all things; and he reveals 
the Father to whomsoever he will. 

Divine power is ascribed to Jesus Christ. The work 
of creating and upholding all things. 


* The reasonings and criticisms by which the Supreme Deity of Christ is supemted and 
defended in these aad many other passages, may be found in Letters to Rev. W. E. Chan- 
ning, by Rev. M. Stewart, of Andover. 


3 


18 


Eternity is ascribed to Jesus Christ. He declares 
himself to be the first and the last, the beginning and 
the end. Rev. xxii. 13. He was in the beginning,— 
before all things,—before the foundation of the world. 
John, i. 1, and xvii. 24. 

Divine honors and worship are ascribed to Jesus 
Christ. That al] men should honor the Son even as 
they honor the Father. John, v. 23. Every knee shall 
bow to him of things in heaven and things on earth. 
Phil. ii. 10, 11. He is presented as the object of our 
prayers and praises. See Acts vii. 59, 60. 1 Cor. i. 2. 
Heb. i. 6. Rev. v. 8—14. 

The same titles, attributes, and works are ascribed to 
the Holy Ghost, as are ascribed to the Father and the 
Son. This is clear from the consideration, that the same 
person who is called Jenovan by Moses, is by St. Paul 
called the Holy Ghost. ‘‘ Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost 
saith, to-day if you will hear his voice, harden not your 
hearts as in the provocation, in the day of temptation, in 
the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved 
me, and saw my works forty years.” Heb. in. 7,8. Let 
us compare this passage with the whole of the ninety-fifth 
Psalm, and it will be impossible for us to doubt that the 
Holy Ghost, in common with the Father and the Son, is 
our Maker and law-giver. 

““O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a 
joyful noise unto the Rock of our salvation. Let us 
come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a 
joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord isa | 
great God, and a great king above all gods. In his 
hands are the deep places of the earth; the strength of 
the hills is his also. The sea is his and he made it; and 
his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship 
and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker ; 
for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, 
and the sheep of his hand. To-day if ye will hear his 
voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, and 
as in the day of temptation in the wilderness ; when your 
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works. 


19 


Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and 
said, it is a people that do err in their heart, and they 
have not known my ways, unto whom | swear in my 
wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.” 

The prophet Isaiah has given us a most sublime de- 
scription of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of the Lord. 
“ Who,” says he, “ hath measured the waters in the 
hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, 
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, aud 
weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a bal- 
ance? Who hath directed the Sprrit or THE Lorp, or 
being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took 
he counsel, and who instructed, and taught him in the 
path of judgment ? Behold the nations are as a drop of 
a bucket, and are counted as the small] dust of the bal- 
ance: behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts 
thereof for a burnt offering. All nations before him are 
as nothing, and they are less than nothing and vanity. 
To whom then will ye liken God?” Isa. xl. 12—18. 
This description most evidently belongs to the Holy 
Ghost, or Spirit of the Lord, and proves him to be God 
in the highest sense. Again the same prophet says, 
speaking in the person of Christ, “The Spirit of the 
Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed 
me to preach good tidings to the meek.” Isa. Ixi. 1, 2. 
Luke, iv. 18, 19. It is certain the Holy Ghost is here 
intended, not only from his peculiar title, the Spirit of the 
Lord, but from his office to anoint our holy Redeemer for 

his work. 

By comparing Isaiah, Ixiii. 10, 11, 14, with Deut. 
xxxil. 12, we shall have positive evidence that the Holy 
Ghost is Jehovah. The children of Israel “rebelled and 
vexed his holy Spirit ; therefore he was turned to be their 
enemy, and fought against them. Then he remembered 
the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, where is 
he that brought them up out of the sea with the Shep- 
herd of his flock? Where is he that put his holy Spirit 
within him? As a beast goeth down into the valley, se 


20 


the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest.” But it is 
said, *“* Jehovah alone did lead him, and there was no 
strange god with him.” From this comparison, it is 
evident that the Spit of the Lord is Jehovah, the self- 
existent God. By comparing two other passages we are 
led to the same conclusion. ‘ They provoked the Most 
High in the wilderness, and tempted God in their hearts” 
—and ‘the Holy Ghost saith, Harden not your hearts, 
as in the provocation, and in the day of temptation 
in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, and 
saw my works forty years.” See Ps. Ixxviti. 17, 18. 
Heb. i. 7, 8. Compare also Jer. xxxi. 31—34. Heb. 
vill. 7, and ix. 8.—‘‘ Behold the days come, saith Jeho- 
vah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of 
Israel ; and with the house of Judah, &c.—After those 
days saith Jehovah I will put my law in their inward 
parts, and write it in their hearts ; and will be their God.” 
The apostle says, ‘‘ wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a 
Witness to us: for after that he had said before, this is 
the covenant that I will make with them, after those 
days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, 
and in their minds will I write them. The Holy Ghost 
this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was 
not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was 
standing.” From this comparison it is undeniably evi- 
dent, that the person called Jehovah by the prophet, is by 
the apostle, called the Holy Ghost; not surely to the 
exclusion of the Father and the Son, but in common with 


them. Besides, in the text last quoted, the apostle refers 


the origin and authority of the whole Mosaic economy, 
to the Holy Ghost. “The Holy Ghost this signify- 
ing,” &e. 

Let any person without prejudice consider how the 
apostles conceived and spake of the Holy Ghost, and it 
will be impossible to doubt. of his divinity. They con- 
sidered lying to him, to be lying to God. ‘ Wherefore 
hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ? 
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” Acts v. 3, 
4. They considered the Holy Ghost to be God when they 


21 


said, know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and 
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Know ye not 
that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost? Ye are the 
temple of the lwing God. 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17, and vi. 17, 
20, and 2 Cor. vi. 16. In these passages we have the 
clearest testimony, asserting the divinity of the Holy 
Ghost ; for if he were a mere creature, or gift only, he 
would not have made Christians his temple by dwelling 
in them. If they be the temple of God, because the 
Spirit dwells in them, then the Spirit is God. The 
Jewish temple, to which here seems to be an allusion, 
was a place of the most solemn worship of that God to 
whem it was dedicated, and whose residence it was. 
Believers being the temple of the Holy Ghost, are bound 
to worship him whose temple they are. The evidence 
for the divinity of the Holy Ghost, in the New Testa- 
ment, is very full and clear; but for want of time we 
must omit much that would be edifying to the friends of 
this doctrine ; we must, however, observe that the attri- 
butes of Deity are ascribed to the Holy Ghost. 

He is called the eternal Spirit. Heb. ix. 14. 

Ommipresence is ascribed to the Holy Ghost, since he 
is with Christians every where. John xv. 6. 

Omniscience is ascribed to the Holy Ghost. He not 
only searcheth the heart of man, but knoweth, compre- 
hendeth the things, the deep things of God. 1 Cor. ii. 11. 

Sovereignty and independency are ascribed to the 
Holy Ghost. It is he who reproves, enlightens, renews, 
and sanctifies ; itis he who wills, and works, commands, 
and requires obedience, as Supreme ; and therefore we 
acknowledge him to be God, with the Father and the 
Son; and worship him as God. 

This point will receive additional light, while we 
consider a number of scripture evidences, which clearly 
recognise the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity. 
_ We agree with all Christians, in every age of the 
: world, that there is none other God but one. 

Let us now examine the Scriptures and see how this 
one God has spoken of himself. As he has spoken of 


22 


himself, so ought we to speak of him likewise. And 
why do we speak of three persons in the Godhead ? 
Not because we find them in the Athanasian creed ; but 
because the scriptures have revealed that there are three, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to whom the 
divine nature and attributes are given. If we admit the 
Unity of the Divine Nature, we must admit the Trinity 
of persons in Unity, for the scriptures have asserted both 
the one and the other. 

To begin with the evidences from the Old Testament. 
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the 
earth. And the earth was without form and void,and 
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the 
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”” Gen. 
1.1, 2.. This important passage of holy writ, as well as 
many others, contains some important information in the 
original language, which does not appear in our transla- 
tion. ‘The Hebrew name so often used in the Old 
Testament, which we have translated by the word God, 
is Klohim, a noun substantive of the plural number, 
regularly formed from its singular, and very frequently 
joined with plural verbs and adjectives, to express a 
plurality of persons in the divine nature.””* 

Should it be inquired of what number of persons does 


this plurality consist? We answer, that two are most 


evidently mentioned in the context, the Father and the 
Holy Spirit. And as the work of creation is frequently 
ascribed to Jesus Christ in the New Testament, we have 
the ever blessed Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost, concerned in the original creation of the 
world. ‘* And when Moses made use of a plural noun 
for the name of God, which he does thirty times in the 
short history of the creation, and perhaps five hundred 
_times more in one form or other in the five first books of 
his writings ; we apprehend it was to give some hints and 
intimations of a doctrine more fully to be revealed in 
after ages.” + 


* Jones on the Trinity, p. 13). + See Simpson’s Deity of Christ, p. bs4. 


23 


We pass over a multitude of passages of the character 
of those above referred to, and notice that the prophet 
Isaiah, “‘ Saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and 
lifted up, and heard the Seraphim cry, holy, holy, holy 
is the Lord of hosts.” ‘Also I heard,” says he, ‘the 
voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who 
will go for us? Then said I, here amI,send me. And 
he said, go}.and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but 
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears 
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their 
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their 
heart, and convert, and be healed.” Isaiah vi. 1, 3, 8, 9, 
10. Origen, a learned Christian father, says, “‘ They 
are not contented to say it once or twice, but take the 
perfect number of the Trinity, thereby to declare the 
manifold holiness of God, which is a repeated intercom- 
munion of a threefold holiness; the holiness of the 
Father, the holiness of the Son, and the holiness of the 
Holy Ghost.” This ascription of holiness being thus 
three times repeated is supposed to belong to the three 
persons in the divine nature. The Lord mentioned in 
the beginning must be acknowledged by all to belong 
to the Father. John the evangelist applies it to Christ. 
‘But though he had done so many miracles before 
them, yet they believed not on him; that the saying of 
the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled,——he hath blinded 
their eyes, and hardened their hearts, that they should 
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, 
and be converted, and I should heal them.”’ John xii. 
37——40. St. Paul applies the same passage to the Holy 
Ghost. “Well spake the Holy Ghost by the prophet 
Isaiah unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and 
say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand,” 
Sc. Acts xxviii. 25—27. Here we clearly discover by 
comparing the prophet, the evangelist, and the apostle, 
that the one Jehovah in the first is a trinity of persons 
“he Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 

ost. i 


. 


2A: 


*'The Trinity 1 in n Unity 4 the one Lord, the Creditor of 
the universe.’ 

‘“‘ By the Worp of the Fons were the heavens made — 
and all the hosts of them by the breath (Heb. Spirit) 
of his mouth.” Ps. xxxii. 6. Therefore, the Trinity — 
created the universe ; yet this Trinity is but one Lor@#* 
for it is said by the prophet Isaiah, “I am the Lorp that © 
maketh all things, that stretcheek forth ‘the heavens — 
ALONE, that spreadeth abroad the earth By MYSELF.’? 
Isaiah xliv. 24 Tt must here follow, that the Word and 
Spirit did not make the heavens; or, that the Father, 
with the Word, and the Holy Spirit, are the alone Lord 
and Creator of all things. 

Passing over much proof for the doctrine of the Trini- 
ty in Unity in the Old Testament, we shall noticea few 
evidences from the New, refer to some others, and make 
some general observations upon the whole. 

‘The divine law is called the law of God. “1 ayseit | 
serve the law of God.” Rom. vii. 25. It is called the | 
law of Christ. “ Fulfil the law of Christ.” Gal. vi--2. | 
And “ The law of the Spirit of life.’ Rom. vui. 2. Bat 
we are instructed, James iv. 12, ‘“ that there is ONE LAW 
GIvER who is able to save and to destroy.”. Therefore. | 
the divine law, is the law of God, of Christ, and of the 
Spirit of life ; and also these three are one. ‘ 

‘ Again, a transgression of the divine law is an offence 
committed against the undivided authority of the Father, 
a4 the Son,” and the Holy Ghost. It is said,*Matt. iv. 

_ ae shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ;” and 1 
6 v. 9, “ Neither let us tempt Christ ;” and Acts v 

9, ** How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the 
Spirit of the Lord.” ” 

Again, Jobn, vi. 45, “They shale all be taught of 
God.”? Gale 427 Neither was I taught it but by the: 
revelation of Name Christ,”’ and John, xiv. 26, * tee 
Comforter—the Holy Spirit,—will teach you all things.” 
From these passages it is clear that the great Teacher of 
mankind is the Trinity in Unity. 

Once more, ‘from the following passages it appears, 


| 


that the body of our Lord’. Christ was raised from 
thé.dead by the _poWer of ever blessed ‘Trinity in 
Unity. 1 Cor. vi. 14, “Gop hath raised up the Lord, 
and will also raise us up by his own power.” John ii. 
19, «« Destroy this temple, and m three days, J will 
raise it ups” and 1 Peter, iii. 18, it is said of Christ, 


that *‘ being put to death urthe_ flesh, ” he was ‘“ « quick- 


ened by the Spirit.” ’ 


In all these, and a multitude of other passages, the i 


doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is explicitly recognised. 
But if it were otherwise, we have two kinds of erence 
which sufficiently establish it: We refer to our baptism, 
and to the form of apostolic benediction. The former is 
to be performed in the name of the ‘ Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. ”” Here appears the most 
perfect equality in the persons of the Trinity. The Son 
is equal to the Father, and the Holy Ghost to the Son. 
The Father is not greater than the other two. Equali- 
ty must be admitted here, not only because it appears on 
he face’ of the commission to baptize ; but because it 
would be absurd.indeed to pretend to derive a commis- 
ion to baptize from three persons, when only one posses- 
sed the competent authority to commission. Besides, if 
Ine Son and the Holy Ghost are inferior to Deity, it 
ould be offering an infinite offence to the latter to place 
hem on a par with him. 

_ Upon the supposition that the Father, Son, and Holy 
izhost are not a Trinity of persons in Unity, the most 


hocking consequences will result from the baptized. 


eing devoted in their baptism, to the persons in whose 
james they are baptized. This would be palpable idola- 
y—idolatry too enjoined, authorized, and comissioned 
Jesus Christ, and practised by all real Christians. 

The same general reasoning will hold upon the form 
tif benediction, as that of baptism. ‘ The grace of our 
‘ord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the com- 
union of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.” 2 Cor. xiii. 
Here equality in the persons is the first thing that 
’ A 2 he 


mas 


26 


i 


strikes the mind. The blessings asked, are each the 


“peculiar gift of God, and resulting from the offices of the 


sacred three, in man’s salvation. If we say the Father is 
God, because he is religiously invoked, and because the 
blessing of God alone can be of any use to Christians ; 
we are compelled to say that the Son is God, and that 
the Holy Ghost is God also, precisely for the same 
reasons. And how absurd would this form of blessing 
appear upon any other supposition than that of a Trinity 
of persons in Unity. Suppose, as the enemies of this 
doctrine contend, that Jesus Christ is a created being, 
and that the Holy Ghost is nothing more than an opera- 
tion of Deity, and at once the absurdity is obvious. 
Here is confusion and idolatry. A creature and an 
operation are placed on an equality with God, and the 
ministers of the gospel, acting under the authority of 
apostolic example solemnly invoking, and blessing theix 
congregations in the name of God, and of a creature, and 
of an operation. ‘The absurdity and blasphemy of this 
supposition is too shocking to admit of our dwelling 
longer upon it on so serious an occasion. 

From the arguments adduced in support of the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, we proceed to make some general 
observations upon them, in further confirmation of the 
doctrine. , | 

1. There is a remarkable interchange of names, titles, 
and offices, between the persons of the Trinity, which 
greatly confirms this doctrine. Although the sacred 
three are generally known and distinguished from each 
other by the appellations of Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, or, by Lord, and God,—for the first person}; 
Christ, Jesus Christ, or Redeemer, for the second ; and 
Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, and the Spirit of the —7 
for the third; yet this order is not always observed in 
speaking of them. The Son, the second person, if 
sometimes, and frequently, called God, the Creator ob 
Maker, the Lord or Jehovah ; and the Holy Ghost, if 
called, God, Jehovah and Lord. Now this could not 
the case, were there not a unity of nature and an equali 


27 


of persons subsisting in the Godhead. We may also 
observe, that the same order is not always observed in 
speaking of the persons of the Trinity ; for though the 


Father has generally the precedence in this order, yet 


sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Holy Ghost is 
placed first in this order. 

2. We may observe with what ease and freedom the 
inspired writers treat this high and fearful subject—not 
indeed with want of reverence ; for their souls are often 
overwhelmed with awe, and their bodies, prostrated 
before this glorious Being, this Triune Majesty. At the 
same time the subject appears to have been perfectly 
familiar to their minds. They every where approach it, 
not with cautious steps, as though entering on a new 
and dangerous path. They tell us there is but one 
God, and yet speak of three sacred persons, ascribing the 
names, titles, and attributes of Deity to each, without 
any apparent anxiety lest they should be misunderstood 
or thought inconsistent with themselves. They dwell 
upon the subject, asserting it™in a great variety of ex- 
pressions, without any attempt to explain, or to make 
the thing credible or agreeable to unbelievers. They 
speak of the persons of the Trinity with as much fa- 
miliarity and ease as they mention Moses and Aaron, 
Caleb and Joshua, or David and Jonathan. 

3. The office which each person in the Trinity sus- 
tains in the business of our salvation, marks him as a 
sovereign and independent Being. The Father forgives 
and justifies. The Son redeems; lays down his life 
himself; has life in himself, and gives life to whomsoever 
he will. And he must be God to have in himself the 
right to lay down his life, and to perform a meritorious 
obedience for us. The Holy Ghost also acts as a sove- 
reign, independent Being, when he commands and re- 
quires obedience ; when he enlightens the human mind 
and leads into all truth ; when he reveals the Father and 
the Son, and witnesseth with our spirits that we are 
accepted of God in Christ Jesus; when he calls, quali- 
fies, and inspires prophets and apostles to declare the 


af) 


| 

: 

will of God, and to foretel future and distant events; — 

and when, by his influence and agency, he renovates and — 

governs the moral world. And though in these offices — 

neither of the persons in the Trinity acts exclusive of — 

the others ; yet it is easy to see that each acts as a sove-— 
reign and independent Being. 


We must close this discourse, which has already been — 
long, by two or three reflections upon the doctrine of the | 
Trinity. . 

1. What a glorious display of the character and per- — 
fections of Deity does the doctrine of the Trinity afford! 
How much more of God is known, than could, to our | 
apprehensions, have been known had we seen him only | 
in one person? In that case we should never have con- | 
templated him in the endearing relation of Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost; nor do we see how we could have 
ever known him as our Mediator, Justifier and Sanctifier. — 
It has been the opiniom@f some that a plurality of per- 
sons in the Divine Nature is necessary that God may 
contemplate and know himself; we are not prepared at 
present to assert this; but wereadily acknowledge that 
the society of persons in the Godhead, if we may use 
the expression, is of importance to us, and has the hap- 
piest effects upon our minds. By reason of this society 
in the Godhead, we see how God can be just, and the 
justifier of the ungodly,—how he can retain the majesty 
and glory of the Law-giver, and at the same time ex- 
tend pardon to the transgressor. We hear them as it 
were, consulting respecting the recovery of a fallen 
world. It is mutually agreed that the glory of the Law- 
giver shall be sustained by the Father, and mercy offered 
to the transgressors. [n order to this, the second person 
becomes the Mediator between God and man; while the 
Holy Ghost anoints him for his work, with the plenitude 
of his nature and influence, and succeeds him upon 
earth, dwelling in, and purifying the hearts of the obe- 
dient, that they may be prepared to dwell with God 


fo ae ey 


yo + 


In these sublime representations we have such a dis- 
play of the divine character as we probably never could 
have had in any other way. 

** Here the whole Deity is known; 
Nor dares a creature guess, 


Which of the glories brightest shone ; 
The justice or the grace.” 


Yes, the whole Deity is known. He who was in the 
bosom of the Father became flesh, and dwelt among men, 
that he might reveal him to us. In this way the divine 
manifestations are brought down to our capacities, adapt- 
ed to the exigences of fallen creatures, and produce the 
happiest results. The divine imdignation against sin 
is illustrated and confirmed ; while we see truth and jus- 
tice in harmony with the tender compassion and mercy 
of God; and the whole forms the most wonderful dis- 
play of benevolence that men or angels ever saw. We 
may now exultingly sing, “Mercy and truth are met 

ogether; righteousness and peace have kissed each 
Wot Truth shall spring outsof the earth; and right- 
eousuess shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord 
shall give that which is good—Righteousness shall go 
before him, and shall set us in the way of his steps.” Ps. 
xxxv. 10—13. <‘‘Glory to God in the highest—on 
parth peace, and good will to men.” 

“To God the Father, God the Son, 

And God the Spirit, Three in One, 


Be everlasting glory given, 
By all on earth, and all in heaven.” % 


2. What a blank would be made in the inspired volume 
were we to strike out the doctrine of the Trinity. A 
ery considerable part of that blessed book is taken up 
descriptions of the persons, the names, the offices, the 
ttributes, and the works of the Trinity. To strike out 
| these things would not only make a blank in the 
ible ; but would make it a very different book from 
hat it now is. 

3. But what an incalculable loss should we sustain to 
ave this doctrine taken from the Bible! And it is the 


/_>* 


- Master when the love of God is shed abroad in his heart; 


30 


; 


same in effect to deny the doctrine, or by false explana- 
tions to give a different meaning to those passages which 
assert it. In this way the personality, or at least the 
divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are expunged 
from our creed, and it is the same as though they had 
never been. 

If this doctrine be denied, or explained away, the 
doctrine of the incarnation, atonement, renewal, sanctifi- 
cation zi; comfort by the personal operations of the 
Holy Ghost, fall to the ground, and all those scriptures 
which speak on these points and others connected with 
them become nugatory. In this case the gospel loses its 
power and commanding influence over the hearts of men, 
and sinks to the level of those systems of moral ethics, 
which the mere light of nature suggests. We might then 
write upon every page, Ichabod, the glory is departed. 

We say not these things without evidence. Look at 
those individuals, and at those churches, which deny the 
doctrine of the Trinity—Where will you find instances of 
sound conversion to God among them! Do they not in 
most instances, look upon atonement as unnecessary, and 
lightly treat the whole subject of Christian experience ? 
If motives of worldly interest do not reform the vicious, 
they remain unreformed, while all are taught to trust in 
themselves, and not in the merits of Christ for salvation. 
And we know how inefficient are such motives and such | 
preaching. 

Not only so, but all the real comfort and happiness of 
the»Christian is built upon and connected with the doc- 
trine of the Trinity. A view of God in Christ recon- 
ciled gaffords him peace, a peace which 


‘* Lays the rough paths of peevish nature even, 
And opens in his soul a little heaven.” 


How firm and calm, while he is built upon ‘the Rock. 
of a divine Almighty Saviour! How like his divine: 


by the Holy Ghost given unto him! What joy he finds 
- flowing from the witness and fruits of the Spirit withi 


. 31 . 


him! What encouragement to persevere and to devote 
himself wholly to the Lord his God, when he knows that 

the divine Comforter will lead him into all truth and help 

his infirmities! When he may ask and receive in the 
name of his Redeemer, that his joy may be full,—and — 
when he is assured that whatever he shall ask the Father 

in the name of Christ shall be granted him. 

Let us then, my brethren, hold fast our belief in the 
dota of the Trinity. Let us contend for this faith 
which was at first delivered unto the saints. Let us 
be jealous of every one who may tell us that this doctrine 
is too mysterious and intricate to be believed, and who 
would substitute a vain philosophy in its stead. 


The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
‘God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you 
. Amen. 

a 


' 


Nore.—The arguments in single commas, pages 24 and 25, are in 
substance from Jones on the Trinity. J. A. M. 


THE 


MORALITY OF THE GOSPEL, 


AND 


away OF THE WORLD. 


A SERMON 


PREACHED IN TRINITY CHURCH, BOSTON, 


ON 


ASH WENDESDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 1, 1865, 


BY 


FRANCIS*WHARTON. 


BOS FON: 
m’ Press oF GEORGE C. RAND & AveERY, 3 CORNHILL. 
i a 
1865. 


By the Will of Mr. Witxi1am Price, it is, among other things, 
provided that a sermon should be preached on Ash Wednesday of 
each year, ‘‘upon the duty, usefulness, and propriety of fasting and 
abstinence, or upon repentance, or faith, or hope, or charity, or 
Christian morality.”” The following sermon was preached under the 


provisions of this Will, and is addressed to the latter of the foregoing 


points. 


SERMON. 


*« Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deccit, after 
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ; for in him dwelleth all the 
fulness of the Godhead bodily.” — CoLoss. ii. 3. 


THERE are dark caverns in which the absence of 
light operates to distort and exaggerate every growth. 
Crystallization, as if in delirium, assumes the wild and 
fitful forms of dreams. Plants lose their natural color 
and shape, and become pale and monstrous. Similar 
to this has been the effect on the mind of the rejec- 
tion of the light of God. The patterns which we have 
set up to be followed, as well as the idols which we 
have created for worship, are false, morbid, and per- 
verted. Let it be our duty to-day to analyze these, 
the several forms of the ideal of the natural mind, 
and then compare them with the true model and _pat- 
tern given to us by God in the life and teaching of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 


I. The idol of the natural mind igs self. Of self is 
erected an image which is at once a master anda 
model. It is not that self is conceived of as it actu- 
ally is. It would be crushing to selflove for any one 
to look at himself in the light in which he stands be- 


4 THE WORLD’S MORALITY: 


fore the world; the small space occupied; the few 
expectations made good; the indifference, if not 
contempt, with which he is regarded by those jostling 
in his path. No one chooses thus to look at himself. 
Instead of this, an imaginary self is created to be wor- 
shipped, and acted out. Let us notice one or two of 
the ways in which this is done. 

The young man who looks forward to political life, 
for instance, views himself not as he is in fact. His 
failures in the politics of minor spheres; his weak- 
nesses and inadequacies, — these he suppresses to 
gaze on the ideal his ambition paints. Rivals passed 
by; round after round of difficulties surmounted ; 
popular applause ringing about him; history waiting 
to record his fame, — this character, eloquent, capa- 
ble, and, above all, admired and obeyed, is the ideal 
before his eye. 

Or take the struggler after wealth. In his imagina- 
tion rises the quiet counting-room, in which sits one 
whose touch throbs through the whole mechanism of 
trade, and who — exulting, it is true, in the elegance 
of his home, the splendor of his charities, and the re- 
finement of his patronage of the arts — rejoices still 
the more in that potent electricity which flows 
through his pen, enabling a few written words to sus- 
tain a war, or to exact a peace; to flush a country 
with triumph, or to palsy it in despair. 

Or take the future of the literary idealist. His 
books, bent over and admired in the remote village, 
as well as in the metropolis ; wealth coming in as bil- 
low after billow, with each succeeding edition; op- 
ponents silenced; rivals left behind; the height 


ITS FALSITY. 2 


of fame reached, and reached alone, — this is the fn- 
ture he creates. 

And as this perverted nature of ours fabricates an 
ideal future, so it falsifies the present. The natural 
mind views the present only in the mirror of self-love. 
The rich man refuses to believe that it is money only 
that gives him power, but dwells with delight on mer- 
its to which he attributes the obeisance he receives 
and exacts. Even the unfortunate man conjures up 
imaginary wrongs and oppressions which he assumes 
he has suffered, and which he thinks entitle him to 
sympathy. In each case the imagination so arranges 
the accidents of life that they fall apart into avenues 
through which applause or support may reach sel/; 
by which self can be nurtured, pampered, worshipped, 
and others turned into subservients and pamperers. 
It is an ideal, which, even if successful, can only pro- 
duce wretchedness and woe; for he who had made 
all others miserable as their conqueror would at last 
become miserable himself, from having none left to 
conquer. It is an ideal which brings out the worst, 
and destroys the holiest, principles of our nature ; and 
which, through the whole course of our race, has sown 
grief and desolation in heart and home. 

II. Such is the ideal of the world. But God has 
been pleased to give to our fallen race another stand- 
ard, — that embodied in the life and character of our 
Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us approach this divine 
model with reverence, imploring aid to see it in its true 
light, so that, impressed with its beauty, we may seek 
to imitate it; impressed with the inadequacy of our 

1* 


6 GOSPEL MORALITY: 


human powers for the work, we may seek converting _ 


grace from above. 

Ist, And first, consider Christ’s lofty beneficence, as 
contrasted with the selfishness of human ambition. 
Man seeks to rise on the top of his fellows. The aim of 
the powerful and lordly has constantly been to press 
down the weak and ignoble into terraces on which the 
edifice of personal pre-eminence can be built. 

Not so with the Lord Jesus. He reversed this pro- 
cess, and for himself accepted a servant’s form, was 
born in a manger, toiled among the laborers in the 
work-shop, was subjected to all the coarse necessities 
of childhood in a working-man’s home. He might 
have selected as his companions the cultivated, the 
wealthy, and the august; but he passed these, and 
grouped around him fishermen, and tillers of the soil, 
—men poor and illiterate, —men then unable to un- 
derstand his sublime delicacy and grandeur, however 
much afterwards, from this very simplicity, they be- 
came capable of receiving and exhibiting the enno- 
bling power of his grace. He thus took the brightest 
diadem the universe knew, and crowned with it, not 
wealth and power, but labor and poverty. The ideal 
of man is the depression of others, as the platform on 
which to elevate self: the ideal of Christ is the exal- 
tation of all to the glorious humility of heaven. 

Then observe how it was as to the standard of sym- 
pathy and taste. Man finds his ideal in the momenta- 


rily fashionable and superb, and to this adulation pays — 


court. Yet how was it with Christ? Splendor and 
style held sway in his day, as well as in ours: with 
them he was often brought into close neighborhood ; 


WIDE ENOUGH FOR ALL MANKIND. T 


but the only consciousness we find in him of their 
presence is sometimes a pathetic sorrow over those 
whom they misled, sometimes sublime denunciation 
of the sins they involved. Yet in him we find at 
once the sweetest susceptibility to the beauties of 
nature, and the tenderest sympathy with the affections 
of man. I know nothing that shows the superhuman- 
ness of his life more than this, that thus he combined 
the sympathy with the severity of piety; a harmony 
which it is not within human power to compass. 
Alas for us! in our religion, becoming cold and as- 
cetic towards our fellow-men; in our worldliness, 
becoming unconscious of our God. 

2d, Then observe the contrast as to philosophy. 
See (1) how this was as to the range of persons ad- 
dressed. Before Christ came, philosophy had been 
handed down from teacher to scholar as a secret for 
the few. Even he, who was the profoundest as well 
as the lowliest of heathen philosophers, — he whose 
wisdom the natural heart now sets up as a rival for 
that of the gospel, —confined his teachings to the few, 
to the “select.” The vulgar herd were not to receive 
this sacred food; they must browse forever on their 
own gross fancies: only those rare souls who were 
emanations from the Most High were to be admitted 
to this divine repast. But not so taught Jesus of Naz- 
areth. His wisdom was all-embracing. Before the 
creation of the world, it contemplated all times; and 
then, during his short and laborious ministry, he hur- 
ried to proclaim it to all races, classes, conditions. 
There was the word of warning to the rich and great; 
and there was the word of comfort and light to the 


8 GOSPEL MORALITY: 


ignorant, the poor, and the obscure. “Come unto me, 
all ye that travail and are heavy laden,” he hastened 
to say at the outset. “ Blessed are the meek,” “ those 
that mourn,” “the poor,’ —as if he sprang forward 
at the first impulse of his all-loving heart to bring 
peace to those to whom others had only brought 
sorrow. Cases to a refined nature the most trying; 
those afflicted with frenzies the most fierce, with 
leprosies and sores the most repulsive,—these he 
brooded over with all the fulness of his pathetic love ; 
spending among such, and among the coarse and 
ignorant, a large part of his time. Yet, even from his 
exquisite sensibilities, when is there a murmur, or 
shrinking from such labor? What other response than 
one of joy at thus beginning the gospel of comfort 
with those by whom comfort was most needed; of 
beginning it with them, to enlarge and expand until 
the whole world should be refined and subdued by 
his love? 

So it was that he exalted into the region of 
sympathy, and instruction, and ennoblement, the 
wretched, the obscure, and the oppressed. The 
world’s philosophy is aristocratic; Christ’s iscatho- 
lic: the world’s, dealing in symbols comprehensible 
only by a few; Christ’s, in symbols comprehensible 
by all: the world’s, operating for the distinction of a 
school; Christ’s, for the illumination of humanity. 
And observe the results. The world’s philosophy has 
been repulsive ; first deadening, and then sloughing 
off the layers of life farthest from self; corrupting, 
and then destroying, the remote, the oppressed, the 
alien: it is the philosophy of hate and ruin. But 


EMBRACING ALL TRUTH. 9 


Christ’s philosophy, if we can call it such, is that of 
love, of refinement, of ennobling grace. It is the phi- 
losophy of comprehension and beneficence. His mis- 
sion has been to lift’up and bind together; it has 
moved on a fulerum above mankind, to restore to man 
that peace and that grandeur which man had de- 
stroyed. Man’s ideal is to concentrate eminence. 
whether intellectual or social, with a few, and to 
work those few into an aristocracy of intolerance and 
selfconceit; that of Christ, the inculcation, among 
all, of the sweetest humanities, and the widest truths, 
and the most catholic sympathies, our fallen race can 
receive. 

(2) Then let us go a step farther, and, passing from 
the range of persons addressed, take wp the thing pre- 
sented, contrasting here also the ideal of man and that 
of Christ. Select this of morals as the loftiest sub- 
ject on which philosophy can work, and observe how 
partial and fragmentary are the systems which human 
philosophy propounds. It would seem as if there 
were an inherent littleness about the mind’s natural 
vision, which prevents it, at any one time, from ap- 
prehending more than one section of God’s truth 


universal. Some great thinker lifts his telescope to 
_ the infinite skies, and views with rapture some par- 


ticular constellation, thus insulated by him, in its sin- 
gle splendor; and with the enthusiasm of genius he 


_ describes this to his disciples, and to this constella- 


tion they do homage, as if it were the whole heavens 


_of God. ‘Thus it is that one small dependent section 
| is accepted as if it were the whole; and so it has 
always been when man has followed the moral ideal 


10 GOSPEL MORALITY: 


of man. Remember how it was in the time of Christ. 
Two schemes of philosophy had then, for genera- 
tions, divided the schools; the first of which, the Stoic, 
imposed a severe rule of right, to be inexorably fol- 
lowed; all pleasure to be rejected; all elegance and 
refinement to be repelled; only the harder and more 
direct duties of life to be discharged. By the other, 
the Epicurean, the human will was deified, and ease, 
and affection, and refinement made the main objects of 
life. The Stoic forgot the nature of man; the Epicu- 
rean forgot the nature of God. The Stoic shut his 
eyes to human weakness; the Epicurean, to divine 
perfection. The Stoic absorbed man’s individuality 
in God’s omnipotence; the Epicurean absorbed God’s 
omnipotence in man’s individuality. The Stoic de- 
strored man’s moral agency in God’s sovereignty ; 
the Epicurean destroyed God’s sovereignty in man’s 
moral agency. The one created as an ideal a per- 
fectly divine man; the other as an ideal a perfectly 
human God. Such were the two schools which di- 
vided ethical philosophy before the advent of Christ ; 
and such are the two schools that continue to divide 
that philosophy, when taught by men without the 
spirit of Christ. Each clasps one of the fwo but 
tresses of the bridge of eternal truth; yet by neither 
is the bridge of this truth spanned. Neither can com- 
prehend either how God is to be brought down to 
man, or man lifted to God. 

But by neither of these half truths, viewing them 
as thus independent, was the Lord Christ controlled. 
He alone united them into an harmonious whole: he 
alone has shown how God can be just, and yet the 


NOT HALF TRUTH, BUT ALL. 11 


Justifier; how God’s eternal purpose and man’s 
moral agency can agree; how the same divine Being, 
at once perfect man and perfect God, can bring us to 
God, and bring God to us; how, as an High Priest, 
Christ is to bear our sins; as a human friend, to be 
touched with our infirmities; as an Infinite God, to 
prescribe our path. And then, as our pattern, he has 
placed before us for imitation a life exhibiting a rule 
of holiness more severe than ever Stoic imposed, 
combined with a tenderness for humanity beyond that 
of the purest and gentlest of the Epicureans. For he 
who declared that even the most secret purpose of 
sin should receive the judgment; who directed that 
no treasure should be laid up on earth, and no thought 
taken for the morrow, — was not only he who laid 
down his life as a sacrifice for us, but, when on the 
earth, gave the sanction of his sympathy to all that re- 
mains of beauty in nature or man. No Stoic heart 
was it that sought repose in viewing the lily spread- 
ing its snowy cup in the meadow; and the ripe corn 
swelling and whitening im the harvest; and the birds 
of the air, each sheltered when wheeling through its 
invisible path by the providence of God. Nought but 
humanity in its tenderest form was it that sanctified 
the marriage-feast ; that yearned over and blessed lit- 
‘tle children, when a colder wisdom would keep them 
back; which provided in the sorrows of the passion 
for the disciples’ comfort, and in the agonies of death 
for a mother’s home; which wept over the grave as 
it blessed the wedding; and which thus grieved with 
the sorrows, and rejoiced in the innocent pleasures, of 
man, while it laid down for him a perfect standard of 


[2 GOSPEL MORALITY : 


right. Neither of these two systems of human ethics 
made Christ its own; but he made each of them his, 
cementing them in one divine whole. 

(3) Then observe this same catholicity in the tone 
in which moral truth is presented. Among the varied 
forms of religious temperament, none imparted its dis- 
tinctive hue to Christ; each he has condescended to 
consecrate as a means of communion with himself. It 
needs only a superficial survey of men to see how 
widely in this matter of religious temperament they 
differ. To some mystic contemplation, to some con- 
stant practical work, is essential to devotion. Some 
lean by nature on a splendid ritual; others are more 
touched by the rudest forms of spontaneous wor- 
ship. Some cling with absorbing tenderness to the 
forms of the past; others are most moved by the im- 
pulses of the present; others bend wistfully to the 
future, finding their light and radiance in the hope 
of the days to come. Neither of these phases of tem- 
perament possessed the Lord Christ; yet to each of 
them he appeals, and each he consecrates to himself. 
His was the mystic solitude on the mountain-side till 
the gray dawn crept over the skies, and his the com- 
munion of the night watches: yet his ministry was one 
of the homeliest, practical activity ; was one of inces- 
sant labor, of long foot-journeys, of cool, keen, disen- 
gaged attention to each want that struck his eye, of 
prompt and appropriate relief, of exact and equally 
appropriate counsel. He worshipped often under no. 
dome but that of heaven, and he worshipped in the 
Temple: he has given usa particular form of petition, 
of all others the most perfect in its simple comprehen- 


APPEALING TO EVERY TEMPERAMENT. 13 


siveness ; and he set the example of the most fervid 
and passionate secret prayer. On the past he dwelt 
with the deepest tenderness ; on the law, on the proph- 
ets, directing his disciples’ reverence to a priesthood 
whose only claim was that of days gone by: yet he 
made the emergencies of the present his opportuni- 
ties, and his human nature swelled with joy at Sa- 
tan’s future overthrow, and the final ennoblement of 
the redeemed race. And so, uncontrolled by either 
form of human temperament, he has condescended to 
bless and sanctify each of them to himself. He does 
not destroy these peculiarities of individual nature ; 
he does not equalize and assimilate them in one homo- 
geneous type; but, visiting them as they are, he con- 
descends to draw each of them to himself.. Itis with 
him as with the portrait whose eyes meet and re- 
spond to the eyes of all turned to it; he looking into 
the souls of all who gaze on him, whoever and wher- 
ever they may be on the face of this wide world. He 
is “ CuRIst THE ConsoLER”’ to the recluse in the des- 
ert; to the man of business in the turmoil and strain 
of his every-day life; to the ecclesiastic in the cathe- 
dral’s splendid ceremonial; to the shepherd on the 


_ bleak hill; to the pioneer on the plain; to the man of 
_ the past, the present, and the future ; to men in all 


their varied conditions and estates, if they but turn 


to him. Sinful men in this mortal life are, and always 
_ will be, infinitely varied in their tastes and tempera- 


ments; but Christ comes as a Saviour to all; each find- 


_ ing harmony in him, he planting a one common, su- 


preme truth in each. Qualified and controlled by no 


form of religious temperament, he qualifies and draws 


14 GOSPEL MORALITY: 


all to himself, — he the one sole being who ever trod 
the earth; who teaches not partial truth, but the whole ; 
who is not national, but universal; not of one time, 
but of all times; not one, but all; not the creature of 
side lights and influences, but the ons Gop-May, un- 
moulded by any age, country, and world, yet occu- 
pying all. 

(4) Then, again, apply this contrast to the attitude 
in which moral truth is to be received. Remember how 
feebly and partially man responds to his moral convic- 
tions, and how constantly he subordinates them to 
prevalent wrongs and prejudices of time and place. 
Who, even among the noblest of mortals, has not ex- 
hibited the corrupting influence of that vanity which 
welcomes praise, or that sensitiveness which recedes 
under censure? But follow the history of Christ, 
and observe how it was with him. On the one hand, 
we find that the multitude that desired to praise him 
were left for the solitude of the mountain; and won- 
ders were refused, when wonders were sought for 
the purpose of making him king. So, on the other 
hand, his sublime purpose was unswerved by the ha- 
treds and irritations of men, — by the irritations, per- 
haps, often most trying ; for the human heroism, which 
stands out serene in the public gaze, frets and quiy- 
ers at the annoyances of obscurity. The eagle that 
flinched not at the wreck of an army on the Russian 
snows, cowered and winced at the vexations of St. 
Helena. Of all the sad sides of our fallen nature, the 
meanness of greatness is the saddest. He who walks 
calmly to martyrdom loses his calmness at some petty 
prejudice, or annoying ignorance, among his friends ; 


| 
| 
| 
| 
| 


TEACHING LOYALTY TO THE RIGHT. 15 


and the great theologian or the wise statesman, who 
faced danger with such brave and true brow, sullies 
his last days by some act of petulance among his de- 
pendants. But approach the Redeemer, and see how 
his divine majesty shows itself in little trials, as well 
as in great; amid the coarse and sordid misconcep- 
tions of his friends, as well as in the awful consumma- 
tion of his cross and passion. There a man unfriend- 
ed, and yet with the divinest gifts and endowments ; 
one who, with every claim on love and veneration, is 
a despised and rejected wanderer; one who, of the 
most delicate susceptibilities, is yet often weary, 
faint, and buffeted ; this Man, Jesus Curist, this our 
Lord and Saviour, meets, on the one hand, the apa- 
thy and desertion of his friends with patient love, 
and the insults of his enemies with sublime compos- 
ure. Ready he may be to perish at man’s hand, but 
never to cower to man’s wrong; omnisciently gazing 
on his ministry’s tragic end, yet quietly each hour 
discharging its humblest as well as its grandest offi- 
ces; arising at Gethsemane from conflicts at which 
even divinity shuddered, to a sublime devotion to the 
right which divinity alone could assume. Man’s loy- 
alty to the truth is that of the ignorant, vain, and fluc- 
tuating creature; Christ’s, that of him who is him- 
self at once all truth and light. 

(5) Then from this we may rise to consider the con- 
trast between the motive power to morals supplied by 
the world and that supplied by Christ. Man’s ideal of 
motive power is Jaw; Christ’s is love. Remember in 
comparing the two that law is, in its nature, a re- 
straint on the natural will; saying, “Thou shalt not do 


16 GOSPEL MORALITY: 


that which thou dost wish, or thou shalt do that which 
thou wishest not.” It is, therefore, a battle and a 
bondage. It marshals the will’s wild power in per- 
petual warfare with an odious external yoke. But 
love is an inner energy, absorbing and uniting with 
itself the most secret purposes of the heart; so that 
the whole nature, in sweet accord, cries, “I will.” 

Then, again, law is superficial, and deals with ob- 
servances. It says, “ Perform this or that ceremony, 
submit to this or that outer discipline.” It tends to 
make religion, therefore, a superstition; to turn it 
to the slavish performance of rites, and the idolizing 
of symbols; and this with a heart unspiritual and 
rebellious. But love deals with the essence, and ele- 
vates the whole nature to the obedience and worship 
of God. 

Then law works but for the moment. Its labor is 
like that which placed for a day, along the desert over 
which the Russian empress travelled, transplanted 
and rootless trees, to be removed when the procession 
passed by; so that the next morning the landscape was 
as sterile and unadorned as before. Law puts up for 
the moment’s use, upon the sterile soil of an un- 
changed heart, the rootless foliage of virtue; but 
soon, when the occasion passes, this foliage is re- 
moved, or dies out. But love, though working more 
slowly, sows a divine growth, which draws its sup- 
port from the heart itself, and which continues while 
eternity lasts. Law cannot fit for heaven, for it only 
sticks the semblance of heaven’s principles on the 
outside; but love does fit for heaven, for it plants 
those principles within. Law may cage up the of- 


SUPPLYING THE TRUE MOTIVE. 17 


fender, but it cannot change his nature. It may 
bring him to the scaffold, but it cannot reform his life. 
As it can only supply the outer appearance, so it 
can only repress the outer act: it has neither fetter 
nor axe to affect the immortal soul. But love frees 
not merely from sin as a tempter, but from the law as 
a bondage. It liberates, it ennobles, it assimilates the 
creature in his sympathies and desires with the all- 
holy God. 

And then, once again, law leaves the offender in 
despair, under the burden of unreduceable and ac- 
cumulating guilt. It says, “ You broke the law, and 

- for that these penalties are assigned;” and so on 
through irremediable transgression and measureless 
condemnation. But love says, “All this was cancelled 
by the cross. Christ fulfilled this law perfectly for 
you; Christ suffered its penalties fully for you, that 
you may arise and obey it for yourself.” To one op- 
pressed by the law’s weight there is no motive, for 
there is no hope of removing the sentence of con- 
demnation to which each day’s new transgression 
adds. But love gives hope and strength; and in the 
atonement of the Saviour, and the sureness of his 
grace, supplies the stimulus and the power of a new 
and holy life. Law immures the eternal spirit in the 
grave of hopeless sin; love graces it with a saint’s 
pardon, and wings it with a seraph’s strength, and 
speeds it to God’s own home. 


: 
| 


Having thus, brethren, shown the contrast be- 
tween the sinful and sin-spreading ideal of the un- 
converted heart, and the sublime, beneficent, and 


q 


18 GOSPEL MORALITY: GIVEN BY GRACE. 


sinless model given to us in Christ Jesus, let me put 
two closing questions. 

In the first place, can you see in this character of 
the Redeemer any thing underneath divine power? 
Is not that character a miracle in itself, proving that 
in Jesus dwells not the meagreness of human philos- 
ophy, but the “fulness of God”? What think ye of 
Christ? What answer can there be but this: “ God- 
sent was Jesus of Nazareth; divinely true must have 
been the words he spoke”? Find in him, then, O 
sinner, thy Saviour; in him, O mortal, thy God! 

And then, finally, when you thus contrast the ideal 
of the natural heart and the model we thus gather 
from the word of God; when you see how the phi- 
losophy and vain deceit, and the rudiments of the 
world, differ from the eternal gospel of Christ; when 
you remember the wretchedness which is produced 
by the one, and the peace which flows from the other; 
when you see, at the same time, how impossible is 
the second to our unrenewed nature; how but one ever 
attained to it, and he the Lord Jesus; how, on the 
other hand, the first, this ideal of the world’s phi- 
losophy, is inwrought into our very essence; consider 
how divine must be the power by which this nature 
can be changed, and God’s gospel established in the 
heart. But “in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the 
Godhead bodily ;” and in union with him by faith 
descends this converting power on man. 


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DISCOURSE, ; 


COMMEMORATIVE OF THE 


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EV. SAMUEL MILLER, D. D., 


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LATE PROFESSOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


AT PRINCETON, 


8 


DELIVERED IN THB 


SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ALBANY, 


SABBATH EVENING, JANUARY 27, 1850. 


BY WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D., 


MINISTER OF SAID CHURCH. 


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DISCOURSE. 


II. KINGS II, 12. 
My father, my father! 

It was a scene of incomparable tenderness and 
sublimity that drew forth this pathetic and rever- 
ent exclamation. A man of mark, well known in 
all Israel, venerable for character and office, had 
now just accomplished his mission on the earth. 
The grave had waited for him, as it waits for other 
men; but God, by a splendid miracle, disappoint- 
ed it. Death, which has passed upon all men, 
came not upon him; for the Heavens opened, and 
the veteran was changed in the act of going up. 
Many a grateful and wondering eye was fastened 
upon him, as he took passage in his chariot of 
fire and rode majestically in the whirlwind. But 
there was one individual who sustained a more 
intimate relation to him than the rest; — who was 
not only his disciple, but destined to be his succes- 
sor in the prophetic office; who finally inherited 
his mantle, and with it a double portion of his 


6 


spirit. It seems to have been Elijah’s wish that 
there should be no witnesses of his glorious de- 
parture, other than the celestial company who had 
him in charge ; but Elisha, who had been divinely 
apprized of what was about to happen, resisted 
the repeated and importunate requests of his 
master to leave him alone, and actually stood by 
his side, when the Heavens bowed to receive him. 
Can imagination paint a more sublime or surpri- 
zing scene than was there exhibited! Two pro- 
phets, an elder and a younger, a teacher and 
his pupil, are holding their last conference upon 
earth, and anticipating the splendid termination 
to which a few moments will bring it; while 
many sons of the prophets to whom the secret 
has been disclosed, have stationed themselves on 
the distant hills to catch a glimpse of the won- 
derful transaction. And now the chariot of fire 
and the horses ef fire have appeared; and the 
whirlwind is there too; and Elijah has started 
upon his upward course, leaving nothing but his 
mantle and his example behind him. “My 
FATHER! My FATHER!’ exclaims the astonished 
Elisha. It was an expression of reverence; for 
he honoured him as not only an eminent prophet, 
but an eminent saint. It was an expression 
of gratitude; for he recognized in him a faithful 
friend, a wise teacher, a beneficent patron. It 


7 


was an expression of grief; for how could such a 
man be spared from Israel, when his labours were 
so much needed to stem the current of idolatry 
and corruption. 

The history of Elijah is not very minutely 
given ; and yet enough is recorded to show that he 
was eminently favoured in both his character and 
his life. He was evidently a man of superior 
natural powers: his movements were marked by 
a foree and majesty which bespeak something 
above the common mind. He was richly endow- 
ed with both the ordinary and extraordinary gifts 
of the Holy Spirit. He lived at a period which 
demanded, while it was fitted to awaken, vigorous 
impulses in the cause of reformation. He was 
not only a prophet, but an associate of prophets, 
and of other great and good spirits of his time. 
He performed services for Israel which must 
render his name a household word in the church 
throughout all generations: And last of all, when 
he had finished his course, he was excused from 
taking the common dark passage to Heaven: 
without feeling the death-struggle,—without cast- 
ing off, by the ordinary process, the garments of 
mortality, he became at once instinct with im- 
mortal life, and took his place in the alicia 
ranks of the glorified. 


8 


This exclamation of Elisha, as he gazed after 
his ascending master, is, I doubt not, a faithful 
expression of the feelings of a large portion of the 
church in this land, on hearing that the venerable 
and beloved Doctor Miller is no more. Many a 
useful minister whose character his instructions 
and example have helped to form; and many a 
private christian who has experienced the quick- 
ening and edifying influence of his labours both 
in the pulpit and through the press; and many a 
missionary who has gone to live and die on Pagan 
ground, to whom he used to speak words of en- 
couragement as well as of instruction; —aye, 
and many of the great and good of other nations, 
who never saw his face, but. have learned to 
venerate his character in his works ; — these, 
constituting an innumerable multitude, have felt 
or have yet to feel, the sentiment of mingled 
reverence and sorrow, in contemplating his de- 
parture. You will not, therefore, I am persuaded, 
think it inappropriate that I endeavour to present 
before you some estimate of his character and 
services. In doing this, though I cannot forget 
that I am paying. a tribute to the memory of an 
honoured. instructor and beloved friend, yet I am 
chiefly influenced by considerations not of a 
personal nature; particularly by the fact that he 
has, for almost sixty years, occupied some of the 


9 


highest places of influence and honour in our 
denomination, and has been a professor in our 
Theological seminary, during the whole period of 
its existence. I may advert too without indeli- 
cacy to the circumstance that the occasion that 
brought you and me into the sacred relation we 
bear to each other, was honoured by his presence 
and services; and the edifying counsels which he 
delivered to us then, still remain among us as a 
monument of his devotion to the best interests of 
the church. 

I have said that Elijah was eminently favoured 
in his life and character; and I am sure that I 
may, without the fear of contradiction, say the 
same of our venerable friend. It is not my de- 
sign to institute a formal parallel between the 
two; and yet the view which I shall necessarily 
be led to take of the one, can scarcely fail to 
remind you of some traits in the character, and 
some events in the history, of the other. 

J. Our departed father was eminently favoured 
in respect to original constitution and educational 
influences. 

His mind was distinguished rather for that ad- 
mirable harmonious blending of all the faculties, 
which generally secures the highest amount of 
usefulness, than for the striking predominance 


of some one quality, which often attracts more 
2 : 


10 


notice and admiration. You could not say that 
he was deficient in any faculty; you could not 
say that he exceeded all others in any; but you 
could say that he exceeded most others in the 
symmetry and completeness of the intellectual 
man. His perceptions, if not remarkably quick, 
were remarkably clear; he hated intellectual as 
well as moral darkness, and knew how to distin- 
guish between profound investigation and the wild 
sallies of an ambitious and dreamy philosophy. 
He had a ready and retentive memory, in which 
were carefully treasured the results of his study 
and observation. He had a sound, discriminating 
judgment, which never leaped in the dark, and 
usually reached its conclusions by a legitimate 
process. If his imagination was not strikingly 
prolific, his taste was uncommonly exact; and 
every effort of the former was subject to the rigid 
control of the latter. He possessed in a high 
degree that admirable quality, — common sense ; 
which is so eminently a discerner of times and 
seasons, and which, even in the absence of what 
are usually considered the higher intellectual en- 
dowments, may be a security for an honourable 
and useful life. He had an unusually safe mind ; 
a mind that moved luminously, effectively, yet 
cautiously ;— a mind that you could trust amidst 
agitating and even convulsive scenes, and not be 


ii 


afraid to read the report of its opinions or deci- 
sions. I remember to have heard that the cele- 
brated Dr. Joseph Priestley was much struck with 
the character of his mind, while Dr. Miller was 
yet a very young man; and little as he sym- 
pathized in his views of Christian doctrine, 
predicted that, if his life were spared, he would 
attain to great eminence in his profession. 

But we must view the intellectual in connection 
with the moral, if we would do justice to the cha- 
racter of his mind; though it may be difficult here 
to draw the line between what was originally con- 
ferred by the Creator and what was superinduced 
by education or even by grace. But I think all 
who knew him will admit that he was constituted 
with a large share of benevolent feeling. Itshone 
in his countenance; it breathed from his lips; it 
found expression in his bland and kindly manner. 
Still he had a strong natural sense of right and 
wrong; and when he was deeply impressed 
with the idea of evil doing, he could sometimes 
utter himself in solemn and indignant rebuke. 
Though he was prudent and conciliatory in his 
intercourse with men, I never heard him charged, 
even in a whisper, with any unworthy conceal- 
ment; with aiming to reach his end by a design- 
edly circuitous or equivocal course ; with seeming 


to be intent on the accomplishment of one object, 


JOY 


12 


while his efforts were really directed towards an- 
other. Nor do I believe that he was justly charge- 
able with any lack of firmness, — however his 
christian courtesy and love of peace may have 
sometimes carried him to what some would regard 
an extreme of forbearance or lenity. His firmness 
certainly never degenerated into obstinacy, but ex- 
isted as a twin sister to that charity which think- 
eth no evil, and which hopeth all things; never- 
theless he felt his convictions strongly, and valued 
them highly, and adhered to them in all cases 
which he deemed important, with unwavering 
fidelity. 

Dr. Miller’s person, though not above the 
middle size, was uncommonly symmetrical and 
dignified. His countenance spoke in no equi- 
vocal language of the benignity and generosity of 
his spirit. His manners were the simple reflec- 
tion of the fine qualities of his intellect and heart, 
He might pass you in the street as a stranger, 
and yet you could not fail to recognize in him 
the polished gentleman. Perhaps his rigid regard 
to all the forms of polite society, so far as they 
were justified to his conscience and sense of pro- 
priety, gave to his manners an air of more than 
common precision; but there was nothing that 
was designed to inspire awe, or fitted to produce 
embarrassment. Always self-possessed and per- 


18 


fectly at ease, and on all suitable occasions 
cheerful and abounding with anecdote, he was 
welcome to every circle; while yet he never 
forgot, or suffered others to forget, the decorum 
that was due to his character and office. Persons 
of every age and profession, the oldest and the 
youngest, the most intelligent and the least in- 
formed, were edified by his wisdom, entertained 
by his humour, and charmed by his bland and 
attractive address. 

We must look now at these admirable devel- 
opments in connection with the influences by 


which they were mainly secured. Dr. Miller was 


the son of an excellent clergyman of Scotch ex- - 


traction, who was born and educated and ordained 
in Boston, but spent nearly his whole active life 
in the State of Delaware. His mother who was 
a native of Maryland, was a lady of rare accom- 
plishments and high moral qualities. The first 
unfolding of his mind, therefore, must have been 
under the most auspicious influences. At a suit- 
able age he was sent to the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, where he enjoyed excellent advantages, 
while, at the same time, he had access to the best 
society of Philadelphia. Having gone through 
the prescribed course at the University, he com- 
menced the study of theology under his venerable 


father; and subsequently, after his father’s death, 


Jb} 


14 


put himself under the instruction of the celebrated 
Dr. Nisbet, then President of Dickinson College, 
Carlisle. I need not say that, from the time he 
commenced his ministry, his situation in life was, 
in the highest degree, favourable to the culture 
of his various faculties. His opportunities for 
study, for reflection, for general improvement, 
were perhaps scarcely exceeded by those of any 
individual of his day. ‘ 

II. Our departed friend was greatly distin- 
suished by his Christian attainments. 

The foundation of his religious character was 
laid in a deep, reverential and abiding sense of the 
importance of divine truth. What his views of 
the doctrines of the gospel were, is sufficiently in- 
dicated by the fact that he was honestly and 
thoroughly a Presbyterian: he received the Con- 
fession of Faith in its legitimate and obvious 
import; while, at the same time, he regarded 
the Bible as the ultimate standard, and reveren- 
ced the former only because he thought it con- 
formed to the latter. Redemption by the Blood 
and Spirit of Christ he considered as the cardinal 
doctrine of Christianity, — the central point of its 
glory, —the leading element of its power. He 
studied the Bible earnestly, constantly, not mere- 
ly as a source of theological knowledge, but 
especially as a means of spiritual culture; and 


15 


no doubt it was under this influence chiefly, that 
his spiritual life became so vigorous and all his 
graces so mature. 

He possessed, in a high degree, the devotional 
spirit. No one could hear him pray without 
being struck with the humble, grateful, child-like 
temper that marked his supplications. There 
was a reverent freedom, an elevated fervour, in 
his approaches to the throne of grace, which 
showed that he was engaged in his favourite 
employment; and we felt that the fire which 
was burning so brightly in the lecture-room or 
the sanctuary, had been kindled in the closet. 
It was not necessary that one should be person- 
ally acquainted with his private religious habits, 
to feel perfectly assured that he was eminently a 
man of prayer; for his public devotional services 
proved it, as truly as the shining of Moses’ face 
proved that he had been on the Mount. And 
what he exemplified so well in his own character, 
he affectionately and impressively urged upon 
others, and especially upon his pupils. Many a 
student can testify that the last interview which 
his revered professor held with him, previous to 
his leaving the seminary, was concluded by his 
offerimg up a fervent prayer that God’s blessing 
might attend him in all coming time, and 
throughout a coming eternity. 


Ste 


16 


Dr. Miller was distinguished by a benevolen: 
spirit, in connection with a well diecgenme 
activity. I have already said that he possessed a 
large share of natural benevolence; but, I.refer 
here to that higher quality which is one of the 
fruits of the Spirit,. and is habitually. control- 
led and directed by christian principle; and, of 
this, I may safely say, he was a bright example. 
He walked constantly in the footsteps of Him who 
went about doing good. He watched for oppor- 
tunities to do good;—good to the bodies and 
souls of men;—good to those near at hand and 
to those afar off. Without very anlage 
niary means, he was still a liberal contributor te 
the various objects of christian benevolence that 
solicited his aid; and, in some instances, l.know 
that he volunteered the most unexpected and 
generous benefactions. His benevolence,,how- 
ever, did not reserve itself for signal occasions; 
but was manifested in his daily intercourse with 
society and in connexion with all the little affairs 
of life. Indeed he seemed always to be acting in 
obedience to the impulses of christian good will; 
and if an opportunity presented to conferinnocent 
pleasure, much more substantial benefit, upon 
any of his fellow creatures, even the humblest,— 
provided no paramount interest required his: at- 

2) yoo aes 


17 


tention, he deemed it an occasion not unworthy 
of his consideration and his efforts. ° 

It was one great advantage that he possessed 
above many other good men, that his christian 
life was ordered with the strictest regard to system. 
His purposes of good were formed, and his means 
of accomplishing them arranged, so as to occasion 
no perplexing interference. You would often find 
him greatly pressed with engagements which, 
with his feeble health and advanced age, he 
searcely felt adequate to meet; but you would 
never find him thrown into an inextricable maze 
and not knowing what to do next, for want of 
due forethought and calculation. It was surpriz- 
ing to many that he accomplished so much, in 
various ways, in his last years: the secret of it 
was that he worked to the full measure of his 
strength and did every thing by rule. 

It was the natural result of his uncommon 
regard to system, in connection with his strict 
conscientiousness about even the smallest mat- 
ters, that he was remarkably punctual in fulfilling 
his engagements. He made engagements cau- 
tiously, and generally subjoined the condition, — 
“if the Lord will’; but when once made, they 
were as sacred asanoath. I have myself recent- 
ly had experience of this trait in his character in 


a way which has awakened at once my gratitude 
3 


- 


4 a 2 


18 


and admiration. Sometime ago I had occasion 
to askvof him certain services which I deemed 
important, and a part of which none but himself 
could render. He answered me with his usual 
kindness, expressing a wish to do what I had 
asked, and an intention to do it if his waning 
strength should permit; but would not absolutely 
promise, lest he should disappoint me. The 
result was that, from time to time, as he felt able, 
he tasked himself to comply with my request; 
and one of the latest efforts of his pen was to finish 
what he had not dared to promise that he would 
even undertake. 

He was remarkable for self control, —for the 
subjection of his appetites and passions to the 
dictates of reason and religion. He was prover- 
bially temperate in all things; and during many 
of his latter years, from a regard to his own health 
as well as the influence of his example, he seru- 
pulously abstained from all intoxicating drinks. 
The passion of anger no doubt belonged to his 
constitution; I think I have seen it once or twice 
flash in his countenance; but I never heard of 
its blazing forth in bitter or unseemly expressions. 
On the other hand, I have known of his sustaining 
himself in dignified tranquillity, when most other 
good men would have been wrought into a fever 
of excitement; and I have heard him utter kind 


19 


and forgiving words, when he had been the object 
of marked personal indignity. An instance which 
I can never forget, occurred in one of my last 
interviews with him; in which he took special 
pains to give me a favourable opinion of a man 
who, I knew, had done him an injury ; and when 
I adverted to the fact, he acknowledged it, but 
added, — ‘‘ He was a good man notwithstanding.” 
In short, he was a noble example of christian 
magnanimity. You saw reflected in his whole 
life the true greatness of religion. 

Ill. The man whose death we lament, enjoyed 
unusual opportumties for doing good ; — opportuni- 
ties connected with both the period in which he 
lived and the places he was called to occupy. 

There are no circumstances in which you can 
place a truly good man, but that he will render 
himself, in a greater or less degree, useful. For 
the ruling passion of the renovated nature is to 
do good; and where opportunities for the indul- 
gence of this passion do not otherwise exist, it 
will itself create them, and that in spite of the 
most powerful opposing influences. But there 
are many cases in which the amount of good 
which an individual performs, seems to fall 
greatly below not only his aspirations but his 
capacities; and we are ready to say,—<‘ What 
might he not have accomplished, if he had found 


7 


oe 


- 


20 


the place for which his Creator fitted him?” And, 
on the other hand, there are cases in which we 
feel that a noble and sanctified mind has fallen 
directly into its appropriate sphere; is surrounded 
with influences most favourable to the develop- 
ment of its powers, and is cast upon a field in 
which its efforts will accomplish the most impor- 
tant results. Of this, a glance at the life of our 
departed friend will show that he was a striking 
example. 

He was born in the year 1769, — by a singular 
coincidence, a few months before his intimate 
and illustrious friend, the Rev. Dr.John M. Mason, 
and a few months after another very different and 
more startling character, — Napoleon Buonaparte. 
It was just when the political elements were 
combining for the storm of our revolution; and 
his earliest education, as well as his more ad- 
vanced training for active life, fell into the period 
in which our country was convulsed by war, and 
afterwards distracted by internal dissensions inci- 
dent to the organization of the government; —a 
period full of interest indeed, but most unfavoura- 
ble to the successful exercise of the ministry of 
the gospel of peace. And then again, it was just 
when the din of party strife had in some measure 
died away, and the new order of things with which 
Heaven had crowned our efforts, had come up, 


21 


that he began his professional career. While the 
influence of a faithful ministry was greatly needed 
to repair the waste of christian principle and 
christian feeling which the preceding years of 
conflict had occasioned, the comparative quietude 
which then prevailed, allowed the ambassador of 
Christ to discharge without molestation his ap- 
propriate duties. The grand design of the minis- 
try was then, as ever, to save the souls of men; 
but it accomplished incidentally another impor- 
tant end, in giving that tone and direction to 
public sentiment during our infancy as a nation, 
which should constitute the best pledge of the 
permanence of our institutions. That was the 
period also in which Protestant Christendom 
began to receive a fresh baptism of the Holy 
Ghost; in which the command to go into all the 
world and preach the gospel to every creature 
began to press upon the conscience and heart of 
the church; in which, in our own country espe- 
cially, spiritual religion began to be revived, and 
to urge itself not upon individuals only, but upon 
masses, as the paramount concern. And in pro- 
portion as the evangelical spirit, the spirit of 
missions, the spirit of an enlarged and active 
piety, has since increased, so also have the advan- 
tages for effective efforts on the part of the minis- 
try increased, resulting from a more extended 


FU 


22 


fellowship, a more cordial and vigorous co-ope- 
vation. The machinery which this spirit has 
brought into existence, has long since become 
vast and complicated; and to keep it in success- 
ful motion has required all the wisdom and 
watchfulness and vigour of the church, and espe- 
cially of the ministry; and when its movements 
have nevertheless sometimes become discordant, 
there has been work for the greatest and best 
minds to restore it to harmonious action. There 
have been, during the period to which I refer, some 
most agitating and painful scenes in the church; 
but even this fact does not form an exception to 
my general remark; for these scenes have fur- 
nished opportunities for doing good, not merely 
by direct labours in the cause of reform, but by 
setting an example of christian forbearance and 
charity. Never, I may safely say, since the world 
began, has there been a period so fraught with fa- 
cilities for ministerial usefulness, as that in which 
our lamented friend has exercised his ministry. 

I may mention also the unusually long period 
in which he was permitted to labour. From 
the time that he was licensed to preach till his 
death was about fifty-nine years;—that is, from 
1791 to 1850;—-more than double the usual 
active life of ministers in this country. And 
notwithstanding his health, during a considera- 


23 


ble part of this period, was by no means vigor- 
ous, yet, by a most careful regimen, he suc- 
ceeded in keeping himself almost always in a 
condition for labour. Even in his old age his 
faculties were kept bright by exercise; and until 
within a few weeks of his death, if you had 
called upon him, though he would have given 
you a cordial welcome, it is not improbable that 
you would have found him with his pen in hand, 
or making his preparation to meet his class. 

Now let us view his opportunities for useful- 
ness in connection with the places which he oc- 
cupied. Any man to whom it is given to preach 
the gospel to his fellow men,—no matter how 
humble may be the sphere of his ministrations, 
enjoys a precious privilege; for he has the honour 
of being, in a high sense, a co-worker with God, 
and is in the way of gathering jewels to his own 
immortal crown. Still it is, on some accounts, a 
higher privilege, to dispense the word of life to a 
large and intelligent congregation; because there 
his influence is more widely felt, inasmuch as 
he speaks to those who have the chief agency 
in moulding public sentiment and giving a tone 
to public morals. It was Dr. Miller’s lot to 
occupy such a place as this. His early and only 
settlement as a pastor was in the First Presbyte- 
rian Church in the city of New-York; which, 


3/} 


oa 


24 


probably, at that time, embraced more wealth, 
talent and influence than any other church in our 
connection. In addition to this, it was the general 
resort of strangers; and while Congress held its 
sessions in that city, most of the members were 
accustomed to attend it. The minister of sucha 
congregation must of course preside at a great 
fountain of public influence; many of his stated 
hearers are among the men who give character to 
a city and a country; and every sermon that he 
preaches, falls upon the ear and tells upon the 
destiny of some, whom he will never meet till 
he meets them in the judgment. 

Having served here for twenty years, he was 
appointed to the professorship of Ecclesiastical 
History and Church Government in the Theolo- 
gical Seminary at Princeton. And great as his 
opportunities for usefulness were before, they were, 
by means of this change, rendered much greater. 
Though at first he had but a little band of pupils 
around him, yet he lived to see the number in- 
crease many fold; and every theological student, 
so far as he fulfils the design of his education, 
becomes a radiating point of evangelical influence. 
He who forms the character of the ministry, forms 
also the character of the church; and thus his 
influence pours down in an ever-widening and 
ever-deepening current to the end of time. What 


25 


an opportunity for doing good has he to whom 
this high interest is confided! And then the fact 
that he holds such a place, gives additional au- 


thority to his opinions and counsels and acts in 
all his public relations. He can scarcely open 
his lips without touching some spring that will 
vibrate, perhaps to the inmost heart of the wil- 
derness, perhaps to the other side of the globe. 

_ It is interesting to note hew the providence of 
God sometimes throws a great and good man into 
his proper place by what are often regarded 
accidental instrumentalities. I lately heard Dr. 
Miller say that he was brought to both the places 
which he had occupied as a minister without the 
least design on his own part; that he was on his 
way to a comparatively obscure parish on Long 
Island, when his labours were put in requisition 
by the Wall-street Church; and that his election 
to the professorship was as unexpected as it was 
unsought, and only filled him with painful anxi- 
ety. Thanks to that beneficent Providence which 
led him by a way that he knew not into places of 
the highest usefulness. 

IV. He was not less distinguished for the 


services he rendered than for the opportunities he 


enjoyed. A man may have the means of doing 

good to any extent, and yet may use them to 

little purpose; nay, he may live and die a mere 
+ 


34S” 


a i a 


26 


cumberer of the ground. Quite the reverse of this 
was true of him whose character we contemplate. 

Dr. Miller, as a preacher, certainly ranked 
among the best of his time. His sermons were 
not mere frigid essays on the one hand, nor de- 
clamatory harangues on the other. They were 
marked by the most rigid regard to method, by 
simple and beautiful analysis, by a perspicuous 
and classical style, and by a serious and impres- 
sive exhibition of evangelical truth. His voice 
was mild and pleasant rather than forcible, his 
utterance deliberate and distinct, his gesture 
appropriate but not very abundant, and his whole 
manner bland, affectionate and dignified. Of the 
degree of visible success which attended his 
ministry in New-York I am not informed; but I 
take for granted that the gospel could not be 
preached for a series of years as he preached it, 
without producing, sooner or later, important 
results. He contributed too not a little to elevate 
the character of the American pulpit; and if there 
were others who had a wider popularity and more 
control of the passions of the multitude, there 
were few whose pulpit productions had in them 
so much of weighty and well digested material, 
or would so well abide the test of an intelligent 
criticism. 


27 


But it was no doubt as a professor in the Theo- 
logical Seminary, that he gained his brightest 
honours, and reached his highest usefulness. In 
the discharge of the various duties belonging to 
this important trust, he was remarkable for dili- 
gence, punctuality and efficiency. As a lecturer 
he was singularly clear, natural, full of apt illus- 
tration, and if reasoning was required, generally 
cogent and convincing. His three departments 
were Church History, Church Government, and 
the Composition and Delivery of a Sermon: in 
each of them he showed himself a master; and if 
he had less vivacity of manner than some other 
lecturers, it was more than compensated by -the 
richness and variety of his matter, and the 
simplicity and purity of his style. His lectures 
on the Composition and Delivery of a Sermon, 
were, I doubt not, among the best that have ever 
been written on that subject; and as they have 
done much for the improvement of our American 
preaching already, it is to be hoped that they may 


do still more by being given to the world through ‘ 


the press. He was a most judicious critic; and 
those were not the least valuable of his criticisms 
which related to the minute details of composi- 
tion and public speaking. His exquisite taste 
instinctively detected the smallest faults, and 
suggested the appropriate corrections. 


- 


28 


But we can form no adequate estimate of his 
usefulness as a professor, without taking into ac- 
count the influence which he exerted upon the 
students by his general character and example. 
1 have already spoken of his courteous and 
dignified bearing in society: in this respect he 
was a fine model for the young men; indeed he 
was a practical exemplification of his own inva- 
luable work on “ Clerical Manners and Habits;” 
—a work which eminently bears the peculiar 
characteristics of his own mind, and which 
few ministers can read without finding them- 
selves at once reproved and benefitted. But 
it was his moral and religious character which 
had the most vital bearing upon the interests of 
the institution. Every one felt that he was a 
shining example of all the christian graces; and 
by the general tenor of his life, as well as by his 
more direct efforts, he kept himself in benign and 
effective contact with the minds of his pupils. 
His own personal religion was a delightful com- 
pound of wisdom, purity, meekness, fortitude and 
love; and those who were privileged constantly 
to walk in the light of such an example, certainly 
enjoyed a most important means of moral and 
spiritual growth. 

Dr. Miller accomplished much by his labours 
as an author. His publications are numerous and 


29 


relate to a great variety of subjects, showing that 
he was a vigorous student and that his mind took 
a wide range. His first work of any considerable 
extent, was a “Retrospect of the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury,’ written in quite the early part of his minis- 
try: it acquired for him great reputation not only 
on this side of the water but in Great Britain; and 
it is not invidious to say, even at this day, that it 
is, on some accounts, among the most valuable 
contributions to History of which our country can 
boast. Several of his works were controversial ; 
at least were designed to defend what he regarded 
important truth: they are all perspicuous, logical 
and well considered, and have a high rank among 
the ablest works on the subjects of which they 
treat. Two or three of his larger productions 
are biographical, commemorating faithfully and 
beautifully some of the illustrious dead to whom 
he had been intimately allied and _ specially 
endeared. His work on the “ Eldership” is in 
great and general repute, at least throughout his 
own denomination; and I have no less authority 
than that of Dr. Chalmers for saying that it is the 
very best work that has been given to the church 
on that subject. He published a large number of 
occasional discourses which are worthy of a more 
permanent existence than, I fear, from the form 
in which they have appeared, they are likely to 


7 


30 


have. I think it will be generally conceded that 
few, if any, of his contemporaries in the American 
church, have done so much by the pen to perpe- 
tuate their influence as himself; and if a list were 
to be made out of a very small number of our 
writers who are most known and most respected 
abroad, his name would undoubtedly have a pro- 
minent place among them. 

I must speak of him also asa counsellor. Here 
his calmness, his prudence, his sound judgment 
and excellent spirit and inflexible integrity, were 
all brought into exercise to the best advantage. 
In ecclesiastical judicatories he was always heard 
with attention and deference. His love of peace 
was too strong to yield to any thing but the love 
of truth and of God; and even when he felt con- 
strained to appear temporarily on the arena of 
party conflict, he never forgot what was due to an 
adversary; he may sometimes, like other men, 
have mistaken his duty, but he never sacrificed 
his courtesy or lost his temper. In the manage- 
ment of the more general interests of the church, 
especially in her benevolent operations, he bore 
a prominent part; and for this his familiarity 
with every thing pertaining to ecclesiastical rule, 
as well as his uncommon aptitude for business, 
abundantly qualified him. He was not only one 
of the wise men but one of the working men of 


31 


the denomination; for while his mind was fertile 
in expedients for the promotion of all that was 
good, he never shrunk from the labour which was 
requisite to carry them into effect. 

Estimate now, in view of these several particu- 
lars, the amount of service he has rendered to the 
church, and say whether he must not, in this 
respect, be ranked among the most favoured of 
her ministers. 

V. He was signally blessed in his social rela- 
tions. 

It was his privilege, during his whole life, to 
be able to associate every thing endearing and 
beautiful with the idea of home. Not only were 
his parents distinguished for intelligence and 
piety, but his brothers and sisters were worthy of 
their parentage and their advantages: two of his 
brothers were devoted to the legal, and two to the 
medical profession ; and though, with one excep- 
tion, they were cut off almost at the commence- 
ment of their career, yet they severally gave 
promise of great eminence in their respective 
professions, and the one who survived the longest 
actually attained it. And from the time that he 
became the head of a family himself, nothing ever 


seemed wanting to him that could adorn or 


dignify the domestic constitution. Some of his 
children have indeed been removed by death; 


34/ 


32 


but he had the comforting conviction that they 
died in faith. The wife of his youth was spared 
to minister to him under the decays of age, and 
to witness the tranquillity and triumph of his de- 
parting spirit. 

Then if we go beyond the circle of his domes- 
tic relations, we shall still find him associated 
with the wisest and the best. Nisbet, his theo- 
logical instructor, was known and_ venerated 
equally on both sides of the Atlantic. His capa- 
city for acquiring knowledge, and his power of 
retaining it, and his facility at imparting it, to- 
gether with his intense devotion to labour and 
almost matchless wit, rendered him one of the 
wonders of his time. Rodgers, his colleague in 
the ministry, was an eminently wise and good 
man. He had a heart that could with equal ease 
kindle with devotion and melt with charity. He 
had been the companion of Whitefield and Davies, 
the Tennents and the Blairs; and the history of 
the Presbyterian church, from almost the earliest 
period, was with him a matter of personal recollec- 
tion, as it had been, to a great extent, a matter 
of personal experience. And on his accepting the 
professorship at Princeton, his most intimate 
associate was a man of whom, if it were not so 
unnecessary, it might yet be deemed unseasonable, 
to speak, inasmuch as, (thanks to God’s preserv- 


33 


ing goodness,) he is still waiting for his change. 
I may say, however, that the two have lived, 
during this long period, in unbroken harmony, each 
delighting to aid and to honour the other; and 
the newspapers have informed us how, the other 
day, the venerable survivor stood over the remains 
of his friend, and rendered, in a way peculiarly 
his own, an affecting and faithful tribute to 
his memory. Indeed I very lately heard Dr. 
Miller express his gratitude to God that, from 
the first establishment of the Seminary to the 
time when the remark was made, there had never, 
to his knowledge, existed, for half an hour, the 
least unpleasant feeling on the part of either of 
the professors towards any one of his colleagues. 
But besides the men with whom he was thus 
more immediately associated as a student, a pas- 
tor, a professor, there were a multitude of others, 
both in Church and in State, among the brightest 
ornaments in their respective spheres, with whom 
he was thrown into relations of various degrees 
of intimacy. Witherspoon and Smith and Kol- 
lock; the Wilsons and the Linns; Ewing and 
Green and Rice; Livingston, Mason, Abeel, Ro- 
meyn and McLeod; McWhorter, Griffin, Richards 
and Chester; Dwight, Morse and the elder Buck- 
minster,— are but a sample of the greater lights 


in the ministry, with whom he was more or less 
5) 


503 


34 


familiar. Many who were most honoured in civil 
life, such as Dickinson, Jay, Spencer, Boudinot, 
Rush, Hamilton, and above all, the Father of his 
country, were on the list of his personal friends. 
Indeed he has always been associated with the 
ablest and best men; in the early part of his life 
they were the great and good spirits who had 
mingled in the scenes of the Revolution, —not to 
speak of other stirring scenes of a yet earlier date; 
in iater years, they have been the illustrious men 
of a succeeding period; and at the time of his 
death, notwithstanding he was a man of another 
generation, he could probably reckon among his 
acquaintances as great a number of individuals 
distinguished for character and rank, as almost 
any of his contemporaries. Though he never 
crossed the ocean, he maintained a correspon- 
dence with several learned men in Europe, who 
duly appreciated his great attainments and his 
exalted character. 

Surely it was a high privilege that he enjoyed 
in being thus, throughout his whole life, the 
associate of men eminent for wisdom and virtue. 
It was a privilege to become familiar with the 
habits of so many great, accomplished and sanc- 
tified minds. Nor was it less a privilege to con- 
tribute his share to the common improvement ; 
to help mould the intellects that were active in 


35 
moulding his own; to be a co-worker with those 
who could do most and best for the benefit of the 
race. 

VI. I remark, in the last place, that Dr. Miller 
was eminently favoured in respect to his death, 
and all the circumstances preceding and attending 
at. 

The Presbyterian Church he cherished with a 
solicitude truly paternal. Had he died a few 
years before, he would have left it agitated by 
violent dissensions; but the storm had passed 
away, and even those who had been widely se- 
parated, had begun to feel the mutual attraction 
of christian love. The Theological Seminary 
seemed to be the home of his best affections, as 
it had been the scene of his untiring and protract- 
ed labours. Had he died a few months before, 
the chair which he had occupied so long, and 
with so much dignity and success, would have 
been left vacant; but before he was taken to his 
rest, he was privileged to know that it was filled, 
and by the very man whom his deliberate judg- 
ment not less than his warm affection would have 
placed in it. The inauguration of his successor, 
though justly hailed as a jubilee to the institution, 


was nevertheless invested with a sort of funereal. 


gloom; for while the Church was opening her arms 
to welcome the young professor, she knew that 


Jom 


36 


the chariot was making ready to bear the spirit 
of his venerable predecessor to Heaven. And his 
family too, —he could leave them, thanking God 
for the abundant favour He had shown them, and 
for the promise they gave of future usefulness in 
their various relations. And while his dying eye 
could thus contemplate with perfect composure 
the world without, there was nothing to agitate 
or terrify, but every thing to sustain and comfort, 
in a view of the world within. I do not mean 
that he rested upon his own inward goodness as 
the meritorious ground of his salvation; for he 
had not language strong enough to express his 
sense of his own unworthiness and his entire reli- 
ance on the Saviour’s merits; but I mean that he 
had the witness within to his own adoption: he 
had evidence of having complied with the terms 
of salvation, that cast out all painful apprehen- 
sion; in short he knew in whom he had believed, 
and was persuaded that He was able to keep that 
which he had committed to Him. 

It was my privilege to have a brief interview 
with him, but a few weeks before he received the 
summons to enter into the joy of his Lord. Isaw 
him in his study, where he had first given me his 
hand thirty-three years before. He was sitting 
in a posture designed to facilitate his labouring 
respiration. He received me with all his accus- 


37 


tomed cordiality, and the usual smile of welcome 
passed over his countenance, which seemed even 
then to be touched by the finger of death. His 
whole appearance was a compound of the deep 
solemnity that becomes the dying man, and the 
joyful tranquillity that becomes the dying Chris- 
tian. He had no breath to waste on mere worldly 
matters, but began immediately to talk of the good- 
ness of the Master whom he had served; of the 
great imperfection of the service he had rendered ; 
and of the glorious eternal home, which, through 
grace, he was about to enter. It is my sober 
conviction that I never heard such words from 
the lips of mortal man; and yet his spirit seemed 
struggling with thoughts and feelings which he 
had no words to express. When I intimated a 
wish that, if it were God’s will, he might be 
spared to us yet a little longer, — he replied, — “I 
am not conscious of having any wish on that 
subject. I think I can say, Blessed Master, when 
thou wilt, where thou wilt, as thou wilt.” I 
came away convinced that I had been listening 
to a dying man; and yet such an impression had 
he left upon me, that I could not think of him in 
connection with the grave, but only with the 


glorious world beyond it. Several others who — 


saw him about the same time, have assured me 
that his chamber seemed to them like a conse- 


7 


38 


crated place, “quite on the verge of Heaven.” 
The venerable Dr. Janeway, who had been his 
intimate friend almost from early life, told me 
that, in a brief but most solemn interview which 
he had with him shortly before his death, Dr. 
Miller requested, before they parted, that he would 
kneel down by his side, that they might once 
more join their supplications at the throne of 
grace; and when he had knelt, and was just 
about to commence the prayer, his revered friend, 
with what seemed almost literally dying breath, 
led off in the exercise with the utmost appropri- 
ateness, tenderness and fervour. These incidents, 
it is understood, were but a specimen of what was 
constantly occurring during his last weeks; and 
when I have said that his sun went down, not 
only without a cloud, but in full orbed glory, I 
have given you an epitome of the history of his 
departure. 

And he was richly favoured not in his death 
only, but in his burial. His funeral was no mere 
matter of solemn form: it had in it every element 
of substantial and honourable mourning. The 
great and the good were drawn thither from a 
distance to testify their gratitude for his services 
and their reverence for his memory; and words 
of truth and tenderness were responded to in tears 
of sorrowful remembrance and deep affection. 


39 


And if there is a grave yard which the saints of 
all coming generations will delight to honour, — 
nay, at which the angels, from their reverence for 
redeemed dust, sometimes pause, surely it is the 
one in which they laid that beloved man of God ; 
for his companions in the slumber of the tomb, as 
doubtless they are also in the ecstacies of Heaven, 
are Burr and Edwards, Davies and Witherspoon, 
Smith and Green; and who shall say how many 
more of the wise and the venerable shall hereafter 
be gathered to that illustrious brotherhood? ‘I love 
to think that his mortal body will repose in a bed 
of so much honour, till, having slept out its long 
sleep, it shall hear the voice of the Son of God, 
and come forth; and in the act of coming forth, 
shall become incorruptible and immortal. 
Enough surely has been said to put it beyond all 
doubt that our departed friend was one of the 
most favoured of men; and yet we have contem- 
plated him hitherto only in connection with the 
life that he lived and the death that he died. 
What then shall we say of him when we remem- 
ber that this favoured life and death, were only 
the preparation for, and the entrance to, a glorious, 
immortal life; that the services in which he found 
so much delight here, were but the appropriate 
training for the infinitely nobler services of the 
higher state; that the blessings which were so 


i 


40 


profusely showered upon him here, were only the 
shadow of those good things to come which are 
treasured up in Christ to be the everlasting portion 
of the saints! As long as his lips could move, he 
kept on testifying of his Redeemer’s love and 
grace; but who shall describe the rapture which 
the same exalted theme now kindles in his soul, 
as he bears his part in the song of the ransomed! 
His mind which here scarcely knew any rest from 
the labour of discovering or illustrating, of vindi- 
cating or applying truth, is now renovated in its 
entire constitution, and pursues its inquiries amidst 
all the advantages of a residence in the third 
Heavens. And ere long his eye, that used to 
beam so benignly upon us, will open with fresh 
lustre from the sepulchral sleep; and his venera- 
ble form, which we saw at last bowed under the 
palsy of age, will re-appear in the vigour and 
bloom of perpetual youth. Here is the reward of 
a good and faithful servant. Here is the principle 
of spiritual life matured into the life eternal. 
Here is a perfect being passing rapidly onward 
from glory to glory. I acknowledge that I speak 
of things of which I can form but a feeble con- 
ception; and perhaps it were better to fall back 
upon that significant, yet mysterious declaration 
of the Apostle, — “It doth not yet appear what 
we shall be; but this we know, that when He 


41 


shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall 
see Him as He is.” 

What an impressive view has been furnished 
by the character we have been contemplating, of 
the majesty of true religion! I do not say that 
religion had done its perfect work for our depart- 
ed friend, so long as he was in the body: doubt- 
less his heart, even in its last pulsations, was, ina 
modified sense only, a clean heart; and it was not 
till he had reached the connecting point between 
earth and Heaven, that the Spirit could smile 
upon his finished work, and pronounce all very 
good. But I do say that religion shone in his 
character with rare attraction; that it invigorated 
and elevated his intellect; that it consecrated his 
heart as a temple of benevolence and purity; 
that it made his life fruitful in deeds of magnani- 
mous import; that it brightened his path in the 
hour of sorrow; that it brought down Heaven to 
his death bed, and was the pillow on which he 
rested as he languished into life. Come, ye vo- 
taries of a cheerless and bewildering skepticism, 
some of whom would banish my Redeemer, and 
others my Creator, from the universe; come, ye 
who would expel from Christianity the supernat- 
ural element and thus neutralize its healing vir- 
tue; come, ye who are willing to tolerate religion 


in others, provided you can be excused from it 
6 


BD 


42 


yourselves; come, especially ye young men, for 
whom the infidel witling has spread his snare, 
and who are already walking unwarily on peri- 
lous ground, — come, one and all, and not only 
become convinced of the reality, but surrender 
yourselves to the power, and bow before the ma- 
jesty, of religion. Here is a characier that I am 
not afraid to submit to your scrutiny; and when 
you have hunted out all its imperfections, and 
thrown them into the light of noonday, enough 
of moral purity and sublimity will remain, to es- 
tablish, beyond a peradventure, the divinity of that 
religion by whose influence it was formed. You 
cannot be an infidel while contemplating the 
achievements of christian virtue, and especially 
while walking among the graves of the saints. 
Who shal] fix a limit to the influence of a 
great and holy man? Who shall say how much 
a single mind acting steadily, patiently, resolute- 
ly, in its appropriate sphere and through a long 
life, shall accomplish for the improvement and 
exaltation of the race? We are apt to judge of 
a man’s usefulness by what falls within our im- 
mediate horizon; we forget that, beyond the 
range of our vision, there may spring up innu- 
merable plants of righteousness from seed which 
his charities or prayers have wafted thither; that 
thousands of monuments of his beneficent acti- 


43 


vity may rise, on which his name shall be inscri- 
bed in a character that is legible only to the eye 
of God and of angels. Oh, if we could contem= 
plate the life of our lamented friend, in all its 
various and luminous details; could we see how, 
as the habit of doing good strengthened, and the 
means of doing good multiplied, the good influ- 
ences which he exerted waxed bright and pow- 
erful and numerous as the sun beams; could we 
see how one benevolent action sent joy and life 
in one direction, and another in an opposite di- 
rection, and how, like separate streams moving 
in circuitous courses, they have ere long met and 
mingled in a common tide of blessing; above 
all, could we behold the fruit of his long life as 
it will be eternally gathered in Heaven, and mark 
how his unostentatious labours on earth took hold 
of the destinies of the glorified, and even quick- 
ened the joys and the songs of seraphs;—I say, 
could we realize this sublime vision, then might 
we have some adequate idea of what it is for a 
good man to live; then should we know better 
how to hononr the memory of such a man after 
he is dead; then should we feel that the grave 
had not gained more than half a triumph, inas- 
much as he is still represented here by influences 
which are essentially immortal. 


5S 


44 


My friends, the tomb has not rendered the ex- 
ample of our departed friend less impressive, nor 
has it rendered our obligation to heed it less im- 
perative. I would that it might come like a 
baptism of fire and love upon the whole church. 
I would that its lessons in respect to the value of 
christian truth and the purity of christian ordi- 
nances, might be written, as with the point of a 
diamond, on the door posts of every sanctuary. 
I would that it might hang as a sacred directory 
in every theological seminary, to lead to dili- 
gence, prudence, fidelity and devotion. I would 
that it might be as a presiding genius in all our 
ecclesiastical judicatories; encouraging all well 
directed efforts for the promotion of truth and 
piety, and frowning into silent shame those who 
would produce needless discord among brethren. 
I would that every minister of the gospel would 
press it, as a thing of life and power, to his heart; 
and that, in the devout study of it, he might be- 
come more and more a workman that needs not 
to be ashamed. I would that every private Chris- 
tian might bend over it in reverential contempla- 
tion, till its beautiful lineaments of heavenly 
grace are fully reproduced in his own character, 
and he realizes a new auxiliary in the labours of 
the christian life. Know you, every one, that 
the grave of God’s departed servant is preaching 


45 


to you; and by such a ministry can you, will 
you, refuse to be admonished and instructed ? 
There is one effect which this dispensation of 
Providence ought to have, — I trust will have, — 
upon our denomination at large;—I mean, that 
of awakening a yet deeper interest in our Theo- 
logical Seminary. The fact that it has been the 
immediate theatre of the labours of so large a part 
of such a life, conveys, of itself, no equivocal evi- 
dence that it is worthy of all the confidence, and 
more than all the support, which has hitherto been 
extended toit. I honour the wisdom of the Head 
of the Church in appointing men first to give 
character to that institution, to whom the mo- 
mentous office might be so safely and advanta- 
geously entrusted; and I say unhesitatingly that 
the debt of gratitude which the church owes to 
them, is second to that only which she owes to 
God. At no period, perhaps, since its first exist- 
ence, could the Seminary atford so well to mourn 
a professor's death as now; for not only has it, 
under highly favouring auspices, reached a vigo- 
rous maturity, but the prudence of the church in 
connection with the magnanimity of the now 
‘departed professor,* had made provision for the 


*It is well known that Dr. Miller had, for some time, been desirous to resign his chair, to 
some younger, and as he thought, more efficient person; but it was not till the meeting of 
the last General Assembly that he was permitted 10 carry this desire into effect. The As- 
sembly, on accepting his resignation, voted the continuance of his full salary to the close of 
his life, but he could be persuaded to accept of only one half of it. 


46 


exigency, and each chair was ably and honour- 
ably filled, so that no part of the machinery has 
stood still for an hour. And besides, it was no 
premature departure, no striking down of a great 
man in the vigour of life, that has caused the 
mourning; but it was the very gentlest loosing of 
the silver cord, after the almond tree had long 
flourished; it was the removal to a nobler sphere, 
of a man, whose faculties had been exerted here 
to their utmost measure of time and strength, so 
that they needed to be re-cast for higher services 
in the mould of immortality. And now, as the 
church venerates the memory of her lamented 
professor, let her know that the most fitting mo- 
nument she can build to his honour, the most 
fragrant wreath she can lay upon his grave, is the 
liberal and faithful fostering of that institution 
with whose interests were identified the most 
important labours of his life. Let her remember 
that though one professor has passed into the 
Heavens, whither also Jesus the great forerunner 
has gone, others remain to be sustained and 
cheered by her bounty and her prayers; and that 
she cannot be wanting in suitable regards to the 
living, without offending against the memory of 
the dead. Let her remember especially that one 
venerable father still lingers there in remarkable 
vigour and perhaps undiminished usefulness, who 


47 


has himself formed a vital part of the institution 
from the time of its birth to the present hour; 
and let her thankfully appreciate his continued 
activity, and by every means in her power, accu- 
mulate benedictions upon his old age. I say 
again, let that School of the Prophets live in the 
benefactions, the prayers, the best affections of 
the church, “If I forget thee, let my right hand 
forget her cunning; if 1 do not remember thee, 
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” 
In giving to the services of this evening their 
distinctive complexion, I have not been unmind- 
ful, my brethren, of the fact that this day has 
been sacred with us to the commemoration of a 
nobler life and death than that of any mere mor- 
tal. And yet I could not feel that it would be a 
violent transition to pass from the death of the 
Master to the death of one of his servants; espe- 
cially as from the shame and agony of the former 
sprang the peace and triumph of the latter. Has 
not our waiting at the cross this morning been 
the very best preparation for our lingering at the 
srave this evening? And, on the other hand, how 
could we better estimate the worth of our Re- 
deemer’s sufferings, than by closely and minutely 
inspecting one of the brightest gems in his Media- 
torial crown? Go then, Christian, under the com- 
bined influence of all the solemn services of this 


48 


day, and address yourself earnestly, cheerfully, 
perseveringly, to the whole circle of your duties. 
Hold to your mind the love of Christ, in all its 
matchless expressions, in all its amazing results. 
Hold to your mind the power of the cross, in chang- 
ing sinners into saints, and exalting saints above 
angels. Hold to your mind the transcendant 
beauty of a christian life, and especially the placid 
triumph ofa christian death. Thus will it be good 
for you not only that Christ has died, but that 
the saints die also; for while, in the blood of the 
former your robes will be washed and made white, 
in the death of the latter you may catch some 
quickening view of immortal glory, as the Hea- 
vens open to receive them, 


LIST OF DR. MILLER’S PUBLICATIONS. 


OO ees 


VOLUMES. 
— 


1. A brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century, 2 vols. 8vo.. 1803 


Ioan = 


12. 


13. 


. Letters on the Constitution and Order of the Christian 


Mintstry, addressed to the Members of the Presbyterian 


Churches in the city of New-York, 12mo........ ........ 1807 
. A Continuation of Letters concerning the Constitution and 

Order of the Christian Ministry, being an Examination of 

the Strictures of the Rev. Drs. Bowden and Kemp, and the 

Rev. Mr. How, on the former series, 12mo.. ............ 1809. 
. Memoirs of the Rev. John Rogers, D. D., 8vo. .......:.... 1813. 
SplecteonseOns WMIATIANISIN, SVOp.c a/c o/s <2 «ex c/s <ya,0re lest tee 1821- 
. Letters on Clerical Manners and Habits, 12mo............. 1827- 
. An Essay on the Warrant, Nature and Duties of the Office of 

the Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church, 12mo....... 1831. 
. Letters to Presbyterians, on the Present Crisis in the Pres- 

byterian Church in the United States, 12mo. ............. 1833 


. Two Sermons on Baptism, preached at Freehold, N. J., 12mo. 1834. 
. Memoir of the Rev. Charles Nisbet, D. D., 12mo........... 1840. 
. The Primitive and Apostolical Order of the Church of Christ 


Vindteateds WOmotseaec ess oct cack cas che tao cee ee 


The Warrant, Nature and Duties of the Office of Ruling El- 
der in the Presbyterian Church; A Sermon preached in *Phil- 
adelphia, with an Appendix, 18mo..............-..0000005 1843 


Thoughts ow Public Prayer, W2md. 22... is ete dae scene 1848 


PAMPHLETS. 


. A Sermon preached in New-York, on the Anniversary of 


mmMentcans Independences a. . fa sees vie acsvs + ceicciaes sateen 1793. 


. A Discourse before the Grand Lodge of the State of New- 


. A Sermon delivered in New-York, on the nineteenth Anni- 


versary of the Independence of America,..... -...-.+..: 1795 


. A Discourse delivered before the New-York Society for the 


Manumussion of Slaves, Sc... 22.2.2... c.caecsdecas scant 1797 


S 


5 


23. 


24, 


50 


A Sermon delivered in the city of New-York, on a Day of 
National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer,.......... shee e Lagos 


. Rae delivered in New-York, on a Day.of Thanksgiv- 
g, Humiliation and Prayer, observed on account of the 
removal from the city of a malignant and mortal disease, . 1799. 


A Sermon occasioned by the death of General Washington, 1799. 


. A Sermon before the New-York Missionary Society, ....+- 1802. 


. Two Discourses on Suicide,preached in the city of New- 


Vor yon ee cic es 00 'y aye pie aee oe walnseine mn cingale errr 1805. 


. A Sermon for the Benefit of a Society in New-York, for the 


relief of Poor Widows with Small Children,........ . ...- 1808 


. A Sermon preached in New-York, on the Divine Appoint- 


ment, the Duties and Qualifications of Ruling Elders,..... 1809 


. A Discourse delivered in New-York, on the Burning of the 


Richmond! Theatres. .....) «:0.s:s:0.2). .i0\e 010 s:ele/ehajele keen epee 1812 


. A Sermon, delivered at Princeton, at the inauguration of 


Rey. Archibald Alexander, D. D., as Professor, &c....... 1812. 


. A Sermon delivered at Baltimore, at the ordination and in- 


stallation of Rev. William Nevins,................ ae Bisa 1820. 


. A Letter to the Editor of the Unitarian Miscellany, in reply 


to an attack on the sermon at the ordination of Mr. Nevins, 1821. 


. A Sermon delivered at New-Haven, at the ordination of 


Rey. Messrs. William Goodell, William Richards, and Ar- 
‘temas Bishop, as Eyes and Missionaries to ‘the Hea- 
PtHen, 2.2. open dels sacle oS ecaigiad 3% ymfic = dep ote eee an 1822. 


. A. Sermon entitled ‘<The eee: Fountains Healed,”’ 


preached in the Chapel of the College of New-Jersey,..... 1823. 


. A Sermon delivered at the opening of the new Presbyterian 


Church in Arch-street, Philadelphia, « ne seisis eel 1823 


. A Sermon preached at Newark, before the Synod of New- 


Jersey, for the Benefit of the African School under the care 
Of the Synod). ov. oc cvecitenieeme + aeielelns wisnie lale)s ete 1823 


. An Introductory Lecture addressed to the Theological Stu- 


dents at Princeton, on the Utility and Importance of Creeds 


and Confessions; :..1:c5 eis 6 cas + esis ec wey ct eee 1824. 

. A Discourse delivered at Princeton, before the Literary and 
Philosophical Society of New-Jersey,...........+e+ese00- 1825. 

. A Letter to a gentleman of Baltimore, in reference to the 
case ofthe Rey. Mr. Duncan, ..% 9... 00 << -ein eee 1826. 

A Sermon delivered in Baltimore, at the installation of the 
Rey, John Breckenridge.) «ors. yeraler o5)e1ajoh-eiste' elle teeta 1826. 


Two Sermons in the National Preacher, (Nos. 8 and 9,) on. 
the Evidence and Duty of being on the Lord’s Side, ..,..,. 1826. 


51 


25, An Introductory* Lecture addressed to the Students of the 
Theological Seminary at Princeton, on the Importance of 
PREM GO SEMIVENISEEY.5 © <2 c che sa. 5 wei arieeiesieleu s/c cea mie siclelnce 


26. An Introductory Lecture to the Students of the Theological 
Seminary at Princeton, on the Importance of Mature Prepa- 
ratory Study for the Ministry, HESOB pe oncacupadsocoeebt but 1829. 


27. A Sermon preached at Albany, at the installation of Rey. 
Wien eS BAe, eretetelateie st. oo <i-\aiclc s'sie<eiels/eiais sire ais MRS 1829. 


28. Two Sermons in the National Preacher, (Nos. 98 and 99,) 
Gin INGINGTONS RISING 6 occ onc ope Opn DSC OBepnOsenoUernoc bs 1831. 


29. A Sermon on Ecclesiastical Polity, one of the Spruce-street 
GGG HUNG SS ay ay-rarcrsley teteeeiel sts iatelscecs alate olsillavelat Nis are als ave sem alete' als 1832 


30. A Sermon in the Presbyterian Preacher, (Vol. I, No. 1,) 


on the Importance of Gospel Truth,-.. .................. 1832. 


31. A Sermon entitled, “‘A Plea for an Enlarged Ministry,’ 
preached in Philadelphia, before the General Assembly’s 
Board of Education, and published in the Presbyterian 
Prede ber GViGlyublpINOs U,))iccvclucee ce cp eicinraiele. sleislelsiel aiels/a ae 1834 


32. A Sermon delivered at Pittsburgh, before the Association of 
the Alumni of the Theological Seminary at Princeton,.... 1835. 


33. Two Sermons in the National Preacher, (Nos. 198 and 199,) 
on the Importance and Means of Domestic Happiness,.... 1835. 


34. A Sermon preached at Baltimore, before the American 


Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, ...... veers 1835 
35. A Sermon preached at Princeton, in memory of the Rey. 
George Sa Ood Mul ererceaclepenistcie ite lsiclsiels attic leet rtaee 1835. 
36. A Tract entitled, ‘‘ Presbyterianism, the truly Primitive and 
Apostolical Constitution of the Church of Christ,”’......... 1835. 
37. A Sermon preached at Baltimore, at the installation of the 
Rev... Johnl@ 3 Backus: wasters ison ates 1 sit'e.ars.afoue cake aleeirone 1836. 
38. Two Sermons in the National Preacher, (Nos. 230 and 231, ) 
on Christiour Righteousness) §: qa. cin ee nis els cmeeies yee eres 1836 
39. A Sermon on the Dangers of Education in Roman Catholic 
Seminaries, preached in Baltimore and New-York, ...... 1837 
40. A Sermon preached in Philadelphia, before the Board of 
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, ............ 1838. 


41. An Address delivered at Elizabethtown, at the dedication of 
a Monument to the memory of the Rev. James Caldwell,.. 1845. 


In addition to the preceding, Dr. Miller published a Biographical 
Sketch of Edward Miller, M. D., prefixed to his works ; an Essay 
introductory to Lectures to Young People, by’ W. B. Sprague ; a 
Letter appended to Lectures on Revivals, by W. B. Sprague ; Contri- 
butions to the Biography of Mrs. Margaret Breckenridge, &c. &c. 


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SERMON 


IN GREYFRIAR'S CHURCH, EDINBURGH, 


137x MARCH 1859, 


A SERMON 


PREACHED IN GREYFRIAR’S CHURCH, EDINBURGH, 
13TH MARCH 1859, 


ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF 


THE HONOURABLE 


LORD MURRAY. 


BY ROBERT LEE, D.D. 


Printed for Private Circulation. 


4 
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JOHN BAXTER, PRINTER, JAMES COURT, HRAD OF 
; : : 
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TO 


LADY MURRAY, 


This Sermon, a sincere though feeble and imperfect 
testimony to the virtues of her late Husband, is re- 


spectfully and affectionately dedicated. 


ist Perer, i, 18-25, 


18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corrupt- 
ible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by- 
tradition from your fathers ; 

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blem- 
ish and without spot : 

_ 20 Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, 
but was manifest in these last times for you, 

21 Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the 
dead, and gaye him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through 
the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren; sce that ye love one an- 
other with a pure heart fervently. 

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of inenerentibles 
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

24 For all flesh zs as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower 
of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away : 

' 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the 
word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 7 


As we pass through life, the contradiction be- 
comes continually more painful between our 
‘outer condition and our inner man, between 
the instinct of fixity or perpetuity and the 
daily increasing experience of change and de- 
cay. We live in the world; and as we live, our 
affections grow, expand, fix themselves, with 


2 


greater and greater strength, upon perhaps an 
increasing number of objects. We are taught 
more to love our fellow creatures by the good 
we discover in them, by the good they do 
us, and yet more, by the good we do them. 
Our roots fix themselves in the soil around, 
deeper and deeper, from year to year; and our 
shoots and sapplings also spring up on every 
side, as if to shelter us from the blast; when, — 
lo! we wither as the grass, we exhale as morn- 
ing dew, are gone, like our dreams,—“ Surely 
the people is grass.” And this is not confined to 
any set of men, or condition of society, but all 
go together in one indiscriminate throng,—rich 
and poor, good and bad, the wise and the un- 
wise, the infant and the patriarch, he that hath 
done good and he that wrought evil upon the 
earth,—the grand army of mortality is recruited 
from all these alike. ‘All flesh is grass, and 
all the glory of man is as the flower of the field: 
the grass withereth, and the flower thereof 
falleth away.” 

Even those who doubt whether we have a gos- 
pel or not, surely cannot doubt whether or not 


8 


we need one, Observing this scene of desolation 
ever spreading around us, the arid desert still 
enclosing us more and more, we cannot but 
look for some refuge and deliverance, some 
place where we may have shelter and rest. 
Born of mortality, members of the family 
whose inheritance is sorrow, pain, disappoint- 
ment, and death, we cannot possibly be recon- 
ciled to this lot. Our hearts protest against 
the doom which, however inevitable, is felt not 
to be natural; for it neither is, nor can ever 
be made, congenial to our feelings. Our souls 
and all that is within us rise up in rebellion; 
and though all men have tried in vain to burst 
this fetter, the faith still remains that it should 
be burst asunder, and also the hope that it will 
be. 

This faith and hope, lying indestructible at 
the bottom of man’s nature, are the prophecy 
of a Messiah to all mankind; the whole creation 
—travelling and groaning under the load of 
vanity, the yoke of sin, the bondage of cor- 
ruption—hears, however indistinctly, a word 
which holds it up, and causes it still to endure: 


4 


and though we can ill interpret this vague and 
dark oracle, yet are we conscious that it is a 
word of joy and peace, that hope is in it, that 
somehow it is a promise of redemption. We 
see in it a gleam of light, a day-spring from on 
high, a gospel of salvation,—indeed, a divine 
word, preached everywhere in all ages, though 
we cannot tell “whence it cometh or whether 
it goeth.” 

This faith is the prophetic forerunner, preach- 
ing in the hearts of men the doctrine of repen- 
tance, going still before the face of the Lord 
to prepare his way,—crying with a voice that 
resounds through all the wide wilderness of hu- - 
manity, “All flesh is grass, and all its glory is 
as the flower of the field: surely the people is 
grass.” And yet the terrific thunder of that 
stern message melts, ere its close, into divinest 
music. The frightful sentence of death carries 
in its last words, the promise of an endless life. 
Even so, 


** Night’s darkness deepens into rising day.” 


Yes, Brethren, the last words are not of despair. 


5 


“ Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth,” 
—these sad sounds are not the very end. No; 
blessed be God !—putting off this mortal, laying 
this corruptible in the dust, we accept it with 
resignation, —we bow without fear to the stroke ; 
“being born again (to a living hope), not of 
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the 
word of God, which liveth and abideth for 
ever.” 

How deep should our thankfulness be that 
there is something which is abiding. While the 
world passeth away—while our friends and ac- 
quaintances die—while all that we loved and 
trusted and revered goes down-in rapid succes- 
sion to the dust—while our family circles are 
broken up, to be completed no more in this 
world—while the wise and the good fall like the 
rest before the inexorable mower—and while 
we feel in ourselves the same working of mortal- 
ity—how deep should be our thankfulness that 
there is something that does not pass away ; 
that there is that which remains firm amid all 
these agitated waves ; and that we, standing up- 
on that immoveable rock, may also ourselves re- 


6 


main unshaken by all the wild agitations and 
startling vicissitudes of the world. 

We know man ; we see what he is. “ His days 
are vanity, like smoke they consume away ;” he 
“‘withereth like the grass of the field.” “Trust 
not in princes nor in the son of man, in whom 
there is no help. His breath goeth forth; he 
returneth to his dust: in that very day his 
thoughts perish.” His designs and purposes go 
with him to the land of forgetfulness. But we 
have heard his voice who burst the bands of 
death ; and “by him we believe in God, that 
raised him from the dead, so that our faith and 
hope are in God.” And knowing “the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent,” we 
have eternal life, and areraised superiorto despair, 
either on account of our brethren or ourselves. 

We know man ; and if we knew him only, how 
perplexed we should be; for, admiring, loving, 
pitying him, we learn from him the lesson of 
doubt not of faith. He carries our thoughts and 
affections away with him into darkness, sending 
back no ray to hint whether he is gone,—what, 
where, how he is, or whether he is at all. His 


7 


history rather teaches despair than either faith 
or hope; and we ask, What after all is this per- 
ishing worm? Excellent, yet he dies! Know- 
ing much, making many discoveries, reaching, 
or almost reaching, to wisdom, he yet knows 
not to cheat the sepulchre ; all his researches and 
discoveries and inventions do not help him to 
escape what he dreads; so that he is as mortal 
as “the poor beetle that he treads upon.” He 
flatters himself that he is the image of God; 
what is that God whose image he is? 

Out of this labyrinth we should never escape 
unless the divinity had shone through our mortal 
nature in the person and history of Christ. “In 
him was life, and the life was the light of men.” 
“By him we believe in God that raised him 
from the dead and gave him glory, that our faith 
and hope might be in God.” 

This being so, all is well. We cannot any 
more doubt, fear, suspect anything. The dark 
clouds are rolled away from our souls; and in 
the light of the divine glory, shining in Christ, 
we see light clearly—the light that guides our 
steps through life—that upholds them when we 


8 


tread the dark valley—that cheers and assures 
our hearts when we see those entering whom we 
would willingly accompany, if it were given us 
—and enables us to look after them with com- 
fort, and even with joy. 

Yes, my Brethren, believing in God, what 
can distress us? Trusting in Him, what can we 
fear? If He be our God, we can want nothing. | 
Having him we have all, more than we can de- 
sire, more than we can know: we are rich 
beyond our wishes, happy beyond our dreams. 
Boundless wisdom, power, mercy, goodness, 
grace, and love—all that these can bestow—all 
that is comprehended in the fulness of God, 
transmuting the very evil mto good; working 
out of sin, sorrow, pain, death, and all the coarse 
and vile materials of this earth, exquisite fabrics — 
of heavenly quality—the garments of eternal 
salvation. “All things are yours, the world, and 
life and death, and things present, and things to 
come; all are yours, for ye are Christ's, and 
Christ is God’s.” “ By him ye believe in God.” 

In this faith we can live. We can look upon 
the great sea of life weltering around us, and 


9 


can feel its ups and downs without terror, or 
being made sick at heart by the wild confusion 
and terrible discord ; or dreaming that this tu- 
mult wants a ruler, obeys not a law. “The 
Lord on high is mightier than the mighty waves 
of the sea.” And in the same blessed faith in 
which we wish to live, we will study to depart; 
knowing that death, which subdues us, is himself 
subdued ; and that, though conquered, we are 
more than conquerors through him that loved 
us—that, when we die, we shall indeed be born 
—that our putting off the tattered garments of 
mortality shall be our investiture with our king- 
ly robes; and that the steps by which we de- 
scend into the sepulchre are those by which we 
shall mount our thrones, “to reign in life with 
Christ, the first born from the dead.” 

This, Brethren, is that word which has been 
spoken to us in the name of the Lord—which 
we have embraced, and desire to hold fast—by 
which we would be comforted and reassured and 
strengthened to do and suffer the will of God— 
by which also we are reconciled to the painful fact 
that “all flesh is grass, and all its goodliness 


10 


as the flower of the field.” Letit beso. Letit 
wither, perish, and disappear. Let its fragrance 
exhale—its blossom go up as dust. Life is at 
itsroot. It will spring again. The undying 
seed will shoot up in vigorous life where no 
canker will poison it, nor any blight fall upon 
it. ‘The word of the Lord endureth for ever ;” 
‘‘and this is the promise he hath promised us, 
even eternal life.” “This is the word, which by 
the Gospel is preached unto you.” 

“Having this hope in you, you are purifying 
yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear 
of God.” Knowing and feeling daily more 
deeply that the flesh is your mortal part, ye 
are studying to mortify it, with its affections - 
and lusts; that these being dead, ye may be 
truly alive, quickened unto all holy obedience, 
leading’a spiritual life, dwelling in the upper 
regions of your being, carrying the cross in 
hopeful and patient strength, looking, humbly 
waiting, for the crown; “ not being conformed 
to this world,” or making other men’s notions, 


caprices, or vain fashions your standard, either 


11 


of action or judgment; being so renewed in the 
spirit of your mind, that ye seek to prove that 
which is “good,” “acceptable,” “ perfect,” ac- 
cording to the mind and will of God, whose 
work is its own wages—whose service is perfect 
freedom. 


During the fifteen years and upwards I have 
been minister of this parish, a great portion of 
the congregation, and almost the whole of the 
elder portion of it, has been taken away. With- 
in the last two or three years, particularly the 
last year, several persons have been called out 
from our assembly, whose characters were so 
strongly marked, whose lives had been so con- 
sistent, whose virtues had been so variously 
proved, and were so well ascertained, that, 
though they were most precious to us, and their 
society and their influence among our greatest 

- earthly blessings, yet their deaths also were ac- 

companied with every possible consolation, es- 
pecially by the firm conviction that our great 
loss was their far greater gain. 

Of the persons now alluded to, some appeared 


12 


to me to approach as closely to the standard of 
christian perfection as the present condition of 
our nature admits; and I am sure that all who 
knew those individuals intimately, must feel that 
to have seen the christian character so exhibit- 
ed, was one of the greatest privileges they have 
enjoyed in this world, and one of the best en- 
couragements to walk in the same steps. 

These events, so painful to the persons more 
immediately concerned, have to me also embitter- 
ed, in no slight degree, the cup of sorrow which 
Divine Providence was pleased to put into my 
hand: for those whom you have been called to 
deplore were almost all of them my intimate — 
friends, between whom and myself subsisted 
those relations of affection and confidence which 
naturally spring up between a pastor and his 
flock ; which are prompted by our best feelings, 
consecrated by our holiest aspirations, and which 
are of peculiar tenderness and strength. 

It would have been most pleasing to me, to 
commemorate those departed objects of our af- 
fection and reverence,—to hold them up for ad- 
miration and imitation. But I have hitherto 


13 


resisted the impulse, partly out of regard to 
what I knew would have been the wishes of the 
individuals themselves,—who desired not to 
emerge at death from that quiet privacy in 
which they had walked with God during life,— 
who were content to be known and approved of 
Him who seeth in secret, and will reward openly 
every one who is, however secretly, a doer of 
His will. I have been deterred also from the 
practice of preaching what are called Funeral 
Sermons, from having had occasion to observe 
the great abuses into which it is apt to degene- 
rate, and the inconveniency and embarrassments 
which it is almost certain to occasion. 

Nor should I have been tempted to depart 
from my former practice, on the present occa- 
sion, even by the virtues of the eminent indivi- 
dual who has just been taken from the midst of 
us, unless his public position—his intimate con- 
nection with almost all the great men and great 
events of the last half century—his long resi- 
dence among us—his abounding munificence, 
and the goodness which distinguished him in 
public and in private, had made his reputation 


14 


a public property, and caused the whole commu- 
nity to feel that in his death they had indeed 
lost a friend. 

That Lord Murray was an eminently kind- 
hearted and liberal-minded man, all the world 
knew. This was expressed in all his actions and 
words: it spoke in the tones of his voiee: it 
shone in his very countenance. ‘The liberality 
with which he contributed to works of public 
charity and utility is too notorious to need men- 
tion here: his princely munificence to particular 
individuals is not unknown ; but there remains 
over an enormous amount of generous deeds, 
which were hidden from the public eye, and 
were rendered the more valuable to the objects 
of them by the considerate kindness which they 
manifested, and the delicacy with which they 
were done. . 

And who that needed help and countenance, 
and was worthy of them, did not find what he 
needed in this fine hearted and noble minded 
man? The rising artist—the struggling author 
—the man of genius or of talents, however hum- 
ble his social position,—were sure to find in Lord 


15 


Murray a sympathizing and an effectual friend. 
And his benefits had no reserves; they were 
done with no secret understanding; they left 
the receiver as independent as before; no adu- 
lation was expected ; no flattery was acceptable. 
Which of his friends, whether high or low, does 
not recal to memory a long list of kindnesses, 
—spontaneously, considerately, and gracefully 
done,—shewing how congenial goodness was to 
his nature,—how habitual to him was the exer- 
cise of the benevolent affections, and how valu- 
able a possession, how great an honour, his 
friendship was ! 

While constitutionally generous, and prone to 
give for all charitable and philanthropic pur- 
poses, his was not a mere impulsive kindness. 
He had the strength to refuse, and he habitual- 
ly did refuse, whenever he was not satisfied 
that the object was good, or that it was his 
duty to aid in it. His refusal in such cases was 
apt to take persons by surprise who did not un- 
derstand the high principle which regulated his 
conduct, or who were ignorant that his own 
duty in the case was the only consideration 


16 


which ever entered his mind, and that the hon- 
our and glory of appearing in a subscription 
list had no charms for him: for, provided he 
himself was satisfied he did right, he was abso- 
lutely indifferent what opinion any other per- 
son, or all the world, might have of his doings. 

Benevolent feelings and munificent deeds are 
far less uncommon than this noble indepen- 
dence: the two are found combined only in the 
purest and noblest natures. 

The same just and generous disposition shewed 
itself in the candour and leniency of his judg- 
ments of othermen. He had the happy imge- 
nuity of detecting some good where nothing but 
evil appeared to common eyes,—of discovering 
some apology, some extenuating circumstance, 
—of looking at the bright side of men and their 
actions, if they had a bright side,—and of find- 
ing something to commend, where others saw 
matter of unmingled condemnation. His surely 
was “the charity which covereth a multitude of 
sins.” No one, I suppose, ever heard him pro- 
nounce a harsh censure, or utter a word that 
betrayed any measure of vanity, envy, spite, 
jealousy, or malignity. 


17 


The singular purity and simplicity of his cha- 
racter were so conspicuous, that the least ob- 
serving could not fail to be conscious of them ; 
and they made one feel that, in his society, one 
breathed a purer moral atmosphere than in that 
of ordinary men. There seemed, as it were, 
to exhale from him, that “ charity which is not 
puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, 
which seeketh not her own, which rejoiceth not 
in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; which 
believeth all things, and hopeth all things.” 

Consistently with this, he shewed, habitually, 
how superior he was, in the judgments he formed 
of men, both to the little vulgar and to the 
great. While habitually courteous and respect- 
ful, and honouring all men according to their 
several claims, he made it manifest that he val- 
ued them not according to what they might pos- 
sess, or might be called, but according to what 
they were ; and those who associated with him 
felt that both they and all others were loved 
and valued in no degree according to their 
wealth, rank, titles, or any such accidental cir- 
cumstances, but according to their own mental 
and moral qualities, 


18 


So genuine and true a mind could not but 
hold in abhorence all duplicity, pretension, and 
hypocrisy, especially religious hypocrisy; and 
rejoicing in that charity which he knew was the 
essence of the christian religion, as assuredly 
it was of his own character, he reckoned those 
persons guilty of a gross deception who, while 
zealous for particular opinions or for outward 
religious observances, omitted from their scheme 
that principle which sanctifies all acts and yivi- 
fies all forms; so that, without it, these, even the 
best of them, are as sounding brass, or a tinkling 
cymbal. . 

Bigotry, intolerance, persecution, he regarded 
as the spirit of irreligion presuming to claim the 
honour of advancing the cause of truth and 
piety,—the spirit of the devil assuming the robes 
of an angel of light; and it was the object of 
all the indignation and hatred of which he was 
capable. 

Though his aversion to all pretension and dis- 
play prevented him talking much of the subject, 
yet it was well known that religious thoughts 
and christian aspirations were not absent from 


19 


his mind, especially in his latter years: and his 
last days shewed this more distinctly than ever 
had before been known, to the great consolation 
of those who were dearest to him, and who wit- 
nessed his edifying and peaceful end. 

Many have talked louder of patriotism, none 
was ever a sincerer patriot: and though he sel- 
dom quoted the words of Holy Scripture, what 
he said, and especially what he did, often brought 
them to the minds of others, and shewed they 
were not absent from his own mind. If I mis- 
take not, this is the way in which our Lord 
would have us chiefly to remember him. 

In short, a good man has been taken from us; 


so good, that 


‘¢ Even his failings leaned to virtue’s side.” 


Some others may have had more admiration 
in some respects, especially from the outside 
throng ; but who of them all was more admired 
by those who observe narrowly, and judge wise- 
ly? Who ever left a greater blank in society ? 
And who, in our day, was ever followed to the 
grave with more love and gratitude ?— the sweet- 
est incense, after all, both to God and man. 


|. a 


Christianity and Civil Governmens. 


NR ODI OSE OS 


A DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED Of 


SABBATH EVENING, NOVEMBER 10, 1850. 


BY 


REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D., 


PASTOR OF THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: 


NEW YORK: 
CHARLES SCRIBNER, 
(LATE BAKER & SCRIBNER.) 

145 NassaU STREET AND 36 PARK ROW. 


1851. 


Submittamus nos tum Deo, tum aliis, tum iis 
qui imperium in terra gerunt: Deo quidem omni- 
bus de causis; alii autem aliis propter caritatis 
feedus ; princibus denique propter ordinem, publi- 
ceque discipline rationem. 

Gregory Nazianzen : 
Orat. 17. 


TO 
THE PEOPLE OF HIS PASTORAL CABE, 
TO Ai; READERS 
WHO AIM TO REGULATE THEIR LIVES BY RELIGIOUS RULES 
CPIENIGS AATEC PET 
TO EXPLAIN THE DUTIES.OF CITIZENS ACCORDING 
TO CHRISTIAN ETHICS, IS AFFECTIONATELY 
AND RESPECTFULLY 


INSCRIBED BY 


THE AUTHOR. 


+ fi 


| PMS LORETA aide i. 10. erp 


| Yast AvOupeata 2 1 ssiut Pk vb ay | 
i FO yar roa ay 


faa vere 


“REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D. 


Dear Siz :—Having listened with high gratification, to your 


excellent discourse on the application of Christianity to Civil 


Government, and feeling assured that an extensive distribution 


of it would be eminently useful, we take leave to request a copy 


of it for publication. 


Very respectfully and truly, 


Your Friends and obdt. Servts, 


Hiram Kertcuum. 
James Boorman. 
Bens. L. Swan. 
8S. S. Howzanp. 
W. B. Crossy. 
Amory GaMaGE. 


Sam. M. Buatcurorp. 


Joun TENBROOK. 


Cuares A. BuLKLer. 


Grorce Bacon. 
A. R. Wetmore. 
Davin Leavitt. 


/ 


A. FisHer. 

R. T. Hatnes. 
Norman Wuite. 
JosEpH B. Varmoum, Jr. 
H. Dwieut, Jr. 

F. F. Marzoury. 

Joun C. Batpwin. 
StepHen M. Cuester. 
James B. Tuompson. 
J. M, Hatstep. 
Freperic Butt. 
JoserH Hype. 


GENTLEMEN :—I defer to your judgment in transmitting, for 
your disposal, the discourse which, in terms so kind, you have 
requested for publication. The substance of it, as some of you 


ey, 


Saks ete 


6 


may remember, was preached in June, 1848; long before any 
discussion had arisen in this country relative to the Fugitive 
Slave Law. The circumstances which gave rise to it were the 
remarkable revolutions then in progress in Europe. It seemed 
to me that Christianity could not look with indifference on those 
uprisings of patriotism and freedom ; while her restraining power 
was greatly needed to prevent freedom from degenerating into 
anarchy. 

It is well known to you that when the last Revolution in 
France was in progress, a host of theorists made their appearance, 
who proposed to take advantage of that event, for re-organising 
society on new and peculiar principles. Of the eleven men 
who were hastily called to the provincial government of 
that country, four were the prominent leaders of a party or 
sect, which, with several minor distinctions, passed under the 
general name of Communists. The smooth roots of specula- 
tion, all of a sudden, brought forth the stinging nettles of political 
peril and trouble. Interested as is my profession in every event 
relating to the happiness of man, I was at some pains to procure 
the principal French writers whose opinions had been most active 
in the new order of things, and acquaint myself with the 
Philosophy of those movements which contemplated great 
changes as to Social Inequalities, Labor, Teaure of Property, 
Law and Government. During the last year I prepared and . 
delivered a series of Discourses on the application of Christianity 
to these social questions; under the sober conviction that the 
religion of the New Testament has promise of the “ life that now 
is as well as of that which is to come;” that it is something more ~ 
than a bridge to help us across the river of Death, even a light by 
which to journey, a hope by which to toil, a motive by which to 
live day by day; and that its oil is not merely for the extreme 
unction of the dying, but for rendering the limbs of the athlete 
supple and strong in the arena of present duty. When in this 
series of related topics the time arrived for introducing the subject 
of Civil Government, events had occurred in our own country 
which gave an unexpected interest to the subject, and a new 
application’ to the argument. So that while a part of the 
discourse’ was actually written with special reference to the 
changes going on jn the Old World, a part was prepared with par- 


: <a 


ticular reference to events then transpiring under our own 


government. 
I have no apology to make for introducing this topic into the 
sacred desk. ‘ Preaching politics,” as that expression is generally 


understood, is a habit to which neither judgment nor taste incline 
me; but the explication of a doctrine set forth distinctly and 
frequently in the very words of Inspiration, might be admitted to 
be within the proper province of the Christian ministry, even if 
we did not see its immediate bearing on the supremacy of religion 
and the substantial happiness of man. 

At the time this discourse was first delivered (10 Nov.,) the 
pulpit, so far as my information extends, had made no expression 
of the views here exhibited. I could not then, as I might now, avail 
myself in the construction of my argument, of the better reasonings 
and reflections of many in my profession. AsI would not presume 
to dictate to others so I have not borrowed my sentiments from 
others. That these should meet with universal approbation is more 
than I anticipate. J assume no infallibility and no authority; but 
shall be sufficiently gratified if it should be thought that, in the 
expression of my deliberate and independent sentiments, I have 
not violated the law of Christian meekness and modesty. I will 
not conceal that it has been a source of pleasure to me to be 
informed by some of our most intelligent fellow-citizens, who 
have listened to this discourse, that it has contributed its share for 
the ‘relief of their minds on certain points where many are 
perplexed with the fear of going wrong. Should the same result 
be accomplished in other cases, it will be to me an occasion of 
devout joy. I am, gentlemen, with very true regard, 

Your friend and obedient servant, 
W. ADAMS. 


nwo wo whew Saitiqaar 
4 1, rl ‘ 


* aft ofai oiqad ait) Sattabouel wh ofitie oF “yates 


. Yllevenay ef naiaaosl| Xo ay as” ssitilog Riti 
a dailnai siaui ton fmerthy halt soutiod dol one be 
4 hoe ylicecitgils diwh 198 detiiiooh. « 1 aoiaailqns 6 
* of hanimbe ad wigiay woltetiy ht to einem Mit 
” HOj deve eaiaiaiin aerthnd MowtY lo% Prepireee : 
‘a Hojgi los. to EoRmoiqus IAP Ao QAit 
ae Uae eeet 10 /tanditeghi ac 

; vor ot) ‘PMSvitol wit ele en 
a ang n9 og ebert bid sinctx. agiveert Mabe 


. woe) fyi I af hoa idoa bMaav T° Gesk 
¥ ; ag comple dosnriegia ¥ier t wa at OF E 
; ts | denthaany tow Aitccra hs “rh emote Para cron he 
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Hie -yyehBOen: Dior shoe ot hia! eit OF wal it 

ad 3 oe ot ‘attains! q 1 sords @ add eed ai sed 
odv smoRidiowollyt: neni istol som 106 to | 

yl orada att Hoquittaes wet Yee sraoea 
ota yam etoty, auld bis itis dio" eben)’ 
sista one? yl) bke ode pacie gaiog tor spoke 

to soimenao 6 ‘bint of 6 Mier 3b sonng the ae 

mu | Stayer oan Yts7 die .oxtblinag ie BY fh 
eevion tage oxles Bie booitt 08 thet a hited 
‘sur aah Ww j . hoi Tot he 


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DISCOURSE. 


Lxr every soul be’subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power bat 
of God: the powers that be are ordained of God, Whosoever therefore 
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that-resist shall 
receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror fo good works, 
butto the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which’ 
is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is-the minister of- 
God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he 
beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to 
execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject; : 
not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For, for this cause pay ye 
tribute also; for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this 
very thing, Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to’ whom ‘tribute és. ~ 
due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom ear honour to whom honour. . 

—Rowans xiii. 1-7. 


Tue subject suggested by this passage of inspired © 
Seripture involves matters vital to human happiness. 
For long ages mankind have been theorizing and™ 
experimenting, toiling and suffering in their vain 
attempts to reach the truth pertaining to civil 
government. Extreme doctrines have been set’ 
forth on either side ; inculcating abject submission 
and lawless freedom. Curious theories have been © 
elaborated as'to the origin and authority of govern- 
ment; the right and the wrong of undertaking © 
any modifications of the ruling power; and it 
would seem that upon this subject the world had~ 

2 


10 


“ever been learning and never been able to come 
to the knowledge of the truth.” At this present 
hour, the whole surface of civilized society is 
rolling and heaving, like the bosom of the sea, 
because of the internal forces which are at work 
pertaining to the uses and abuses of political power. 
Nor is this to be wondered at when we consider 
the immediate connection which subsists between 
the administration of the state, and the dearest 
rights, and highest interests of mankind. 

_We believe that the world never will arrive at 
a state of repose and satisfaction on this subject till 
the great principles relative to civil government 
contained in the Word of God are made the basis 
of human sentiment and practice. Thére must be 
an ethical osteology in the body politic. There 
_must be a religious basis beneath the pillars of the 
state ; nor will we ever believe that a subject so 
intimately related to the well-being of man is 
forever to be secularized away from Christian rule ; 
and that because it would be indecorous for the 
teachers of religion to mingle in the petty affairs 
of party politics, therefore, they have no duty to 
perform, and no lessons to impart relative to the 
claims of government as derived from the Gospel 
of the Son of God. 

Most of the theories which have been promulga- 
ted as to the origin and province of government, 
have been elicited by special and local questions ; 
and accordingly they have, in most instances, been 
too partisan in their character and too meagre. in 
their induction, A change in the government of 


11 


Berne led Louis Van Haller to conceive his remark- 
able theory concerning civil government. This 
may be the process by which truth is smelted 
out at last. A practical case arises in the 
administration of the state which elicits differences 
of opinion. Those opinions may be extreme and 
extravagant on either side; but they excite thought ; 
they lead to comparisons and judgments; and the 
effervescence of contrary qualities results in a third 
quantity, which is nearer the truth than either of 
the elements which entered into its composition. 
It is impossible to deny that circumstances have 
arisen in our own country which lend to this 
subject an unusual interest and importance. Senti- 
ments have been broached as to the proper pro- 
vince and prerogatives of government, as to obe- _ 
dience to government and resistance to govern- ® 
ment, as to the conflicting claims of private 
conscience and of public duty, which have agitated 
the country, and by which the minds of many 
well-meaning men have been sadly confused and 
perplexed. They are told on the one hand that 
it is a religious duty to obey governments, and they 
believe it: they hear much, on the other hand, of 
the worth and glory of a good conscience, the 
memory of Christian and patriotic martyrs, and 
they are convinced that somewhere there is a 
place and a right of resistance to political power, 
though they are sorely perplexed to discover and 
define it: and just in this unhappy, undecided, 
double-minded condition, multitudes of our own 
citizens are thrown at this very instant; so that 


x 


12 


our topic is one not of: abstraction but practical 
and pressing importance. 

Let me premise that my: object is: not to advice 
or discuss any particular law; much less to pros 
mote any political measure. The ministry of reli- 
gion knows “no man after the flesh.” I. doo not 
propose to settle every point of casuistry; but, if 
possible, would state the broad principles of Reve- 
lation pertaining to. the civil power; principles 
which may reconcile apparently incongruous senti+ 
ments, remove impending obscurities, and establish 
the identity between good citizenship and practi- 
eal Christianity. 

I begin with stating afew of the more olweiatin 
doctrines of the New Testament: concerning civik 
government, 

1. Government—civil government 1s: an ordinanil 
of God, and as such 1s to be respected: and: obeyed: 
The language of Scripture is\ very. explicit» 
“Let every soul be subject unto the: higher 
powers, for there is. no: power but of: Gods 
The powers that be are ordained of God. Who 
soever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth: 
the ordinance of God—and they that. resist 
shall receive to themselves damnation.” The bare; 
mention of a passage like this: plunges us, ationcey 
into the midst of those great questions: which have; 
exhausted the wisdom of the prudent, and cons 
vulsed the world with changes. ‘In what. sense: 
is government ordained of God?” “Is the duty 
here enjoined a passive obedience: to governments) 
of all forms, and inallacts?’"» ‘Are no changes im 


43 


civil governments ever countenanced and aided by 
réligion? Is resistance to political power in every 
ease, an act of disloyalty to God? If exceptions 
are allowed—when, why, and what are they?” 
Let us not be deterred by the difficulties which 
énviron the subject upon which we are entering ; 
for, with the Word of God, like a lamp, in our hand, 
we may take our way without fear of losing our 
path. 

I repeat, then, the first and most obvious 
teaching of the New Testament, on this subject ; 
Government is ordained of God, for the welfare of his 
ereatures, and as such 1s to be obeyed. No mention is 
here made of the form in which government is to be 
administered. The expression is generic. “The 
powers that be,” “rulers,” “higher powers,” are 
the terms employed, without specifying their 
names, their office, or the mode of their appoint- 
ment. Some government is essential to human hap- 
piness. Society could not exist without it. There 
must be restraint, law and order. A ruling power 
of some sort, under some name, there must be. 
This necessity‘exists independent of our choice. 
Tt grows out of that constitution of things which 
God himself has created. The theory of a social 
¢ompact, as set forth by Rousseau in his famous 
work—“Sur le Contrat Social,” and adopted by 
other politico-philanthropic writers is alike vision- 
ary and atheistic. It is just such ‘a theory as 
tnight have been expected from‘a ‘man so vainly 
fond of paradox that, when the Academy of Dijon 
proposed the question, “Whether'science and civ- 


14 


ilization were serviceable to human happiness,” 
he was forward to espouse the negative side, though 
against his convictions of truth, because affording 
him a better opportunity to distinguish himself. by 
startling novelties. 

The Being who made us, made the necessity of 
law and government. Governments never did orig- 
inate in the mere preference and. contract of indi- 
viduals, who, up to that time were without any 
government at all. Compacts, constitutions may, 
indeed, be framed by men, and between men, regu- 
lating the form in which government shali be ad- 
ministered ; but the reality, the necessity of some 
government depends not at all upon human choice. 
Talk of a state of nature! When, where was there 
ever a tribe of uncivilized savages who did not re- 
cognize the necessity of some form of law among 
themselves, rude, barbaric though it was, hered- 
itary or delegated, the will of the oldest, the rieh- 
est,’or the strongest. The bloodiest pirate-ship 
that ever prowled on the windward station has its 
laws. There can be no association of men without 
them. There is a liberty which is fostered by 
the gospel, but that liberty is not lawlessness. 
The most frightful evil which Christianity teaches 
us to deplore, is anarchy and _licentiousness. 
‘Speaking evil of dignities,” “despising govern- 
ments,” is an inspired description of the most dan- 
gerous of men. Men are not to be left in 
all things to follow their individual will. Related 
to others of their species, they are to be 
restrained by the beneficent power of public 


15 


law. The natural liberty of man is, in some 
respects, diminished by the necessary restraints of 
society. Human passions are to be confined with- 
in certain limits. There may be, there are, de- 
grees of merit in the several forms in which govern- 
ment is administered ; but to destroy all govern- 
ment would make Mercy weep and Compassion 
mourn. Tiberius Cesar was upon the throne when 
Jesus Christ paid the tribute which the Roman, 
in justice, could not claim. Nero was Emperor 
when Paul wrote to Titus—“< Put them in mind to 
be subject to principalities and powers, to obey 
magistrates,” and Peter wrote——“Submit your- 
selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s 
sake, whether it be to the King as Supreme, or 
unto governors, as unto them that are sent by 
him, for the punishment of evil-doers, as free, and 
not using your liberty as a cloke of maliciousness, 
but as the servants of God.” It-would, as we 
think, be a forced and artificial interpretation of 
the clause—/or the Lord’s sake, in this passage, to 
understand it as requiring obedience only to such 
enactments as are made from religious principle, 
with special regard to 'God’s will. Nero was never 
suspected of enacting or executing any law from 
such a motive. Its obvious import is, that we 
should obey government from a principle of 
obedience to God. Not that Tiberius and Nero 
were good men; not that a ruler cannot do 
wrong; not that we are to approve of everything 
he does or requires; but government, of which 
even bad men may be the agents—government is 


16 


an ordinance of God, and as such is to be honored 
as a necessary and benignant provision for human 
happiness. It may be abused; it may be perverted; 
(and of the remedies in such cases I am to speak 
hereafter), but all government must not and cannot 
be destroyed. The worst form of tyranny which 
ever lorded it over injured men, would be paradise 
in comparison with the entire destruction of all re- 
straining and ruling power. Who, for all\the gold 
that ever was coined, would venture himself and 
his family in Naples, in Madrid, in Paris, in New 
York, a single day, in the absence ofall law,and 
government to protect him? We shudder at 
the thought of a vast population let loose to follow 
inclination unchecked and uncontrolled; their 
passions clashing in turbulent confusion, and de- 
stroying each other by the conflicts of physical force. 
The ruling power, says the gospel, is God’s minister 
for good. Somewhere, under some name, in some 
form, there is a power which governs; yes, which 
governs ; which holds the will of the individual,.in 
subjection to public laws. ‘These laws may not be 
perfect, but the idea that every man is to be a law 
unto himself is Utopian, and unchristian. We look, 
with unspeakable interest, on the struggles of men 
in the Old World who are striving for a more liberal 
government, for laws more humane and just; we 
believe that the Gospel aids and encourages sueh 
aspirations and .struggles (and it. will be for me in 
the sequel to show how this influence ofthe Gos- 
pel is to be reconciled withthe obedient spirit now 
under consideration) but wherever there,are men 


17 


who have conceived the idea of demolishing :all 
governments and all laws, lifting aloft the blood- 
red flag as the sign of universal anarchy—to them 
we say, the Gospel has.no sympathy with licen- 
tiousness. The “jus divinum” of Kings may have 
been monstrously abused, but government is no 
invention of king-craft. Law is not a device :of 
man. It is an ordinance of God. Its necessity is 
laid in infinite goodness, and never can it be abro- 
gated. The God who made us has ordained 
that there should be a power—how appointed, how 
invested, I do not now say; a power—that is the 
word—not mere mawkish sentimentalism, but ia 
power that wields the sword, a sword not yof 
feather, not of lath, but of veritable steel, the sym- 
bol of authority which, in God’s name, shall punish 
the evil-doer, and stand as a barrier against wild 
and atrocious lawlessness. Brawling, riotous, fero- 
cious resistance ‘to all governments, is a sort of 
liberty which finds no favor from the spirit of 
Christianity. We should respect, revere, honor 
magistracy as the exponent of God’s legislation for 
human happiness. The more free our institutions, 
the more established our rights, the more ‘we 
should honor the ruling power which protects and 
blesses us. A self-governed people should never 
fail in the sentiment of loyalty ; for in the degree 
in which they are deficient ‘here they rebuke and 
condemn themselves. | 
2. We are now prepared to advance to a second 
position, which is, that the Word of God, while it 
enjoins obedience to government, no where pre- 


a 4 


NS a eh tel 


18 


scribes the form in which that government shall 
exist: but has left this as a thing capable of 
improvement, to the experience and preference 
of men themselves, within the limits of certain 
general principles of equality and equity, liberty 
and law, which are, to the last degree, reasonable 
and essential. 

This statement, if it can be verified, will dispose 
at once of a thousand questions, by which the 
minds of men have been embarrassed, in reference 
to this subject. For it has been the policy of 
despotism, in all ages, to make it appear that 
there is but one form of civil government sanctioned 
by heaven; that every attempt to change this is 
to be branded as impiety, and therefore, a revolu- 
tionary spirit is to be held, in all cases, as essen- 
tially atheistical and wicked. The world is full of 
books concerning the “divine right of kings”: 
and the notion which prevailed for ages was, that 
God anointed kings as his exclusive agents and 
vicegerents ; and therefore religion required passive 
abedience to them, however cruel, capricious, and 
unjust their demands. 

We can readily understand how such notions 
have crept into English theology and English 
literature. In the reign of Henry VIII., when the 
king’s proclamation had the force of law, Cranmer 
declared, in emphatic words,—I quote his own 
language—-“ that God had immediately committed 
to Christian princes the whole cure of all their 
subjects, as well concerning the administration of 
God’s word, for the cure of souls, as concerning 


19 


the ministration of things political.” In the reign 
of James I., Sir Robert Filmer, the author of the 
famous treatise on Patriarchal Government, assert- 
ed that the Supreme Being regarded hereditary 
monarchy, as opposed to any other form of govern- 
ment with exclusive favor, a theory which called 
forth the immortal treatise of Algernon Sidney, a 
legacy of wealth to the nations. James himself 
frequently enraged and alarmed his Parliament by 
telling them that they had no more business to 
inquire what he might lawfully do than what the 
Deity might lawfully do. The philosopher Hobbes, 
writing during the reign of Charles IL., atlirms that 
in a literal, not a metaphorical sense, kings are the 
representatives of God; lords of our faith and our 
lives, and authoritative interpreters of Scripture. 
“ Letat c’est mot,’’—I am the state—said Louis the 
Fourteenth as he stalked into the hall of his 
Parliament, with a riding-whip in his hand. The 
same doctrine of the exclusive divine right of 
kings is asserted by Bishop Horsely in his celebra- 
ted sermon before the House of Lords in the year 
1793 ; a discourse which awakened the indignant 
rebuke of Robert Hall in his eloquent “ Apology 
for the Freedom of the Press and for General 
Liberty ;” and I have perused a sermon, by a 
Protestant clergyman, in our own country, in 
which the extreme doctrine is, I will not say 
argued but declared, that to the duty of sub- 
mission to an established government there are 
no limitations and no exceptions; that obedience 
in the state and obedience in things spiritual, are 


20 


parts of the same Christian ‘virtue, and that those 
revolutions which we are accustomed to favor with 
our good wishes and aid, are infact rebellion 
against that patient obedience to civil authority 
which is enjoined by God. 

The weightiest matters, the most important in- 
ferences, therefore, are dependent upon the ‘posi- 
tion’ we have assumed ‘that the Word ‘of God no- 
where prescribes the precise form in which govern- 
ment shall be organized. ‘Government in some form 
it recognizes as essential and divinely authovita- 
tive: but it no where instructs us that there is any 
one form to modify which would ‘be disloyal'to 
God. 

© Does not Peter, in his general Epistle, require 
us to honor the king ?” Unquestionably. ‘Were we 
aiming at strict historical exactness, we should say 
that the Roman Emperors were republican magis- 
trates named by the Senate ; but royalty, kingship 
was the form in which government was embodied, 
when the Apostle Peter wrote his epistle: and 
Christianity, in all consistency, required its disei- 
ples to obey even a heathen monarch rather than 
rush into the fearful chaos‘of no government at 
iall. But what has this fact ‘to ‘do with the ques- 
tion whether a ‘better form of government might 
not be made in the place of that which then exist- 
ed? The simple fact that our Lord and his dis¢i- 
ples conformed to ‘certain institutions existing tin 
their day, in the absence of allspecific directions, 
no more proves that we are to make those same #n- 
stitutions our model'and our law, than that we are 


oa 


to: imitate, in every:respect, their dress and do-. 
mestic customs as Orientals. Paul wrote his epis- 
tles to the churches on parchment with a stylus; 
is this an argument to prove that we should 
never employ what is  better—a printing press? 
The same Apostle coasted along Asia Minor, and: 
pushed into the Adriatic in a ricketty and unsea- 
worthy vessel, without a. compass ; is this a reason 
why we should not traverse the same waters in 
a steam-ship, by the aid) of a binnacle? The 
Apostles practised obedience, on Christian princi- 
ples, to the only form of civil government which 
then existed; is that an argument to prove that 
government is not susceptible of improvement, 
and that, in the progress of events; we may not 
frame one which is: better? 

“Did not God. ordain a royal house over ‘his 
ancient people?” Admit that it was so: Are we 
anywhere instructed that the same form of gov- 
ernment is authoritatively prescribed for all times 
and,all people ? Look carefully at all the facts:of 
the history. The formvof government prescribed 
for: the Jewish people was: thatiof a republican 
commonwealth, with such legislation for equality: 
and justice as might) provoke the most profound’ 
admiration in this self-complacent age. But the 
people themselves were) clamorous: for a changey 
They saw the splendors of royalty in the nations: 
which, surrounded them; and longed to be: like 
them: For this they:were rebuked; they were’ 
forewarned, of theconsequences of their choice’; 
but) their passion: being unappeasable, God gave« 


22 


them a king in his wrath, because of their incorri- 
gible wickedness; and the very words, God save 
the King, which England has adopted as her na- 
tional anthem, were shouted by the people, when 
Saul was anointed king, under a solemn protest 
from the mouth of Samuel, who, in God’s name, 
assured them that the permission allowed them 
was a rebuke and punishment for their folly in re- 
jecting a government which was incomparably 
better. The language cannot, therefore, be em- 
ployed as an inspired demonstration of the exclu- 
sive claims of royalty. 

Admit that the form in which government is to 
be administered is prescribed in the Word of God, 
and that this exclusive form is royalty, and by that 
admission you make all improvements in govern- 
ment impossible; all revolutions in government 
acts of impiety; and all Christian patriots who 
have resisted despotism, rebels against heaven. 
The doctrine of Scripture is perfectly consis- 
tent with itself. Government is essential, and 
government is to be obeyed. But the form in 
which government is to be administered, and the 
spirit of its legislation admit of degrees of improve- 
ment. Law is not a stereotype letter which 
changes not from age to age, but a beneficent’ 
agent, which, in the gradual progress of Chris-| 
tian civilization, must conform itself more 
and more to the genial legislation of the gospel: 
Government is not a colossal figure, seated’ 
upon a throne of everlasting rock, holding the’ 
same old sceptre of iron, century after century, 


23 


never to be modified in form, dress, or utterance. 
The alternative of government or no government, 
never has been, and never will be presented to 
man. But the question whether a bad govern- 
ment may not be exchanged for a good one, and 
this for a better, is one which Christianity more 
than tolerates ; itself proposes, and resolves. There 
is a sense in which it is perfectly proper and Chris 
tian to speak of “the divine right of kings;’” and 
with equal propriety may we speak of the divine 
right of presidents and governors; the divine right 
of mayors and sheriffs ; the divine right of constables 
and policemen; for these are ail ministers of law ; 
and God is not a God of confusion. but of order. 
Government is divinely appointed, inasmuch as it 
is conducive to human happiness. ‘The world at 
the close of the first demiurgic day was better than 
chaos and old night. ‘The tyranny of one, be that 
one Nero or Caligula, is better than the tyranny of 
ten thousand. .A diseased eye is better than total 
blindness ; for the diseased organ is susceptible of 
remedies. Remedies have been employed, defécts 
have been supplied, evils have been corrected, and 
under the benignant influences of Christianity, 
civil government has been constantly improving, 
and it will improve till its whole form and spirit 
are accordant with the beneficent ends for which 
it was ordained of God. Governments are not 
the property of the officials by whom they are 
administered. ‘They were ordained for the bene- 


fit. of all; to use the very language of the New , 
Testament, that we may “ead quiet and peaceable hives ;. 


24 


and the wisdom of God is greatly to be admired in 
devolving so much the responsibility of deciding the 
form in which government shall be administered 
upon those for whose welfare it was ordained. Do 
not believe that passive obedience to odious 
tyranny, when a better administration is perfectly 
feasible, is the only Christian virtue.’ The Barons’ 
of Runnymede were not sinning against God, in 
securing chartered rights for their country; for 
these were better than the imperious will of King 
John or Henry III. Parliamentary reforms are’ 
not necessarily assaults upon Christianity. The 
old Continental Congress of the United States” 
were not sinning against the Most High God, when’ 
they judged that they could erect for themselves 
a better form of government than ‘any across thé 
seas. George Washington was no rebel against 
his Maker for espousing the same opinion. When 
President’ Langdon, of Harvard University, put 
himself at the head of Col. Prescott’s column on 
Cambridge Common, on the eve of the 17th of* 
June, 1775, and offered up a devout prayer ‘beneath 
the stars for the success of the expedition then” 
starting for the neighboring heights-of Charlestown)” 
he was no Judas, treacherously leading a band” 
with swords and lanterns againt the Christ of God!" 
Christianity is no indifferent spectator of the 
patriotic struggles and revolutions which aim ‘at’ 
the reform of abuses. Her own’ spirit’ is\in the” 
wheels. And when Christianity holds up~ pefore’ 
the world this compendious doctrine: Obey govern’ 
ments and make governments. better, she: has pro-- 


25 
mulgated a law, which, for its sublime simplicity 
and consistency challenges the homage and ad- 
miration of the world. 

Most of the errors which prevail in our times, 
as to the organizations of society, are the offspring 
of a Pantheistic philosophy, which overlooks and 
neglects our individuality. Now the gospel of 
Christ reverses this order entirely. It commences 
its great reforms with the heart of the individual 
man. It begins not with the remote circumference 
—the nation, to work inward; but at the heart of 
each individual and works outward to society. 

You have obse ved, perhaps, with surprise, that 
the New Testament contains so few directions for 
rulers and Governments in their distinctive 
capacity. The reason is, that the directions 
which Heaven has enacted for the individual 
man, are capable of an extension and appli- 
cation to any number of men; that is to society, 
to nations, and the world. Man is a microcosm; 
a little world in himself. One man is the likeness 
and representative of every other. And the Su- 
preme Being who has revealed all the legislation 
of the universe in ten precepts, and these epitomi- 
zed in two: who has comprised the expression of 
all our lawful desires in one brief formula of 
prayer; has, with the same sublime comprehension 
made known his will as to the Government of the 
world, in those few and simple principles which 
the gospel plants in the heart of a child. The gov- 
ernment of God does not concern itself prima- 
rily and immediately with what is public and na- 
tional. Its proper kingdom is the human soul. 

3 


ste ee amine a Ae 


26 


This rectified, ennobled and blessed national pros- 
perity flows from it as a legitimate consequence. 
God’s method of making good governments is to 
make good men. Do you ask for the process of 
improvement? Briefly stated, it is as follows. 
First, the Gospel kindles the spirit of liberty. It 
supplies the individual with an adequate stimulus 
and motive power. It bursts like the morning sun 
on the statue of Memnon, and makes the motionless 
marble to sing. It puts beneath a dead and 
unthinking nature the mighty lever of Christian 
truth, and lifts. man up in God’s image, to do 
God’s work. Clothed with the authority of the 
skies it comes to every man and says—‘ you are 
God’s child, in God’s image, whether in ebony or 
ivory ; for you Christ died, for you the costly ex- 
penditures of redemption, and the mansions of 
glory.’ Taught the worth of his soul, man 
stands erect. He dilates with a great inspiration. 
An unknown importance attaches to his every 
act. New motives has he in the education of his 
offspring, the acquisition of property, in the 
maintenance of his rights. Freedom there will be 
—for such a man must have room in which to live 
and work. Before this quickening, ennobling power 
of religion, there must be uprising against wrongs, | 
abuses must be reformed, oppression must be 
resisted, and he who has learned that he is to sit 
on a throne in heaven, will have no tyrant’s foot 
upon his neck while he lives on the earth. 

_The more you rouse the energies of man—the 
more of impetus you apply—the. more needful is 
the power of control and restraint.,.Give) to man 


27 


nothing but stimulated strength and he is a maniac, 
burning, breaking, tearing, destroying whatever is 
in his path. Restrained he must be. But how? 
Christianity puts the power of control in the very 
heart which it rouses to life. It makes the man 
the master of himself. Not one whit does it abate 
from the spirit of liberty and of life. It does not 
clog him with weights, nor cripple him with blows, 
nor cage him within prison-bars; but it puts law 
in the heart and conscience at the helm. By one 
ray of celestial light, Christianity solves all the 
problems which for ages perplexed the whole sub- 
ject of civil government. Addressing its spiritual 
teachings to the individual, it makes him loyal to 
God, puts in his heart the love of justice, 
liberty, and virtue ; makes him at once free and 
obedient; bold, earnest, courageous, yet acquies- 
cent with his whole soul, in the wholesome laws 
which look at equity, righteousness, order and 
peace. It is not true, that despotism and lawless- 
ness are the only alternatives presented to man. 
Christianity, by its intermediate and conservative 
power, changes the whole aspect of this contro- 
versy. It teaches man how to reform without de- 
stroying ; how to resist wrong without practising 
wrong ; to find liberty and hold himself back from 
licentiousness ; to advance yet always in the right 
direction ; to make progress, yet always steadying 
himself by stern faith in truth, in duty and in God. 
When God put the planets in motion, they were 
not left with the impetus of a single force. The 
centrifugal and centripetal were so combined as to 
make them move in regular and harmonious orbits. 


23 


Man, started on his career by the conscious spirit 
of liberty and power, you might think, was like a 
comet threatening to burn the earth; but obedient 
to the same power which projected him into being, 
he turns at the right point and comes back around 
his centre in a beautiful circle of light and bless- 
edness. Taught by the religion of Christ, he car- 
ries in his own bosom a combination of forces, im- 
pelling and restraining, stimulating and controll- 
ing, and he stands before you in all the power’ and) 
beauty of a self-governed man. Man must be gov- 
erned ; by physical force, if not by internal princi- 
ples. Begin, as God does, with the heart of indi- 
vidual man; acquaint him with his destiny, and 
qualify him for it; and you may leave all other 
questions to an easy, natural, and inevitable solu- 
tion. Thus is it that Christianity enlightens, 
modifies, and improves the governments of the 
world, as its power increases over the hearts and 
minds of individuals. It-turns blind submission 
into rational obedience ; tempers the passion for 
liberty with the love of order, and places mankind 
in a happy medium between the extremes of an- 
archy on the one hand, and oppression on the other; 
and when this slowly-advancing power of Christi- 
anity is universal, there will be order, peace, lib- 
erty, and righteousness throughout the world. 
These general principles conceded, a practical 
question is already answered : ‘May human govern- 
ments ever be resisted?’ Unquestionably. You, 
cannot deny it without condemning all the Christian, 
patriots who have lived and died in a righteous. 
cause. If governments may be modified and im- 


x 


29 


proved, of course, there are cases in which they 
may be resisted, even forcibly, if necessary; a 
bitter medicine, actual cautery, or amputation 
being indispensable to save life. Our American 
Revolution, for example, can be justified on ° 
Christian principles. We cannot go so far as. 
Bishop Berkley, that genial and generous man, 
and acute reasoner, who has undertaken to demon- 
strate that it is as much our duty to submit to the 
most ferocious tyrant, as to submit to the supreme 
benevolence of God; or rather that to obey such 
a tyrant is to obey Supreme Benevolence. 
We exclaim with Pope:. 


a 


“Who first taught souls enslav’d, and realms undone, 
The enormous faith of many made for one, 
That proud exception to all nature’s laws, 
To invert the world and counterwork its cause ! ” 


The divine right and authority of government 
resides in its tendency to promote the peace, pro- 
tection, order, and happiness of society. This is 
the object of God’s benevolence ; and whatever 
secures this has the sanction of his will. Govern- 
ment possesses this divine right only as tending to 
public happiness. It is instrumental and not 
primary, mediate and not ultimate; and when the 
public happiness, instead of being, on the whole pro- 
moted by obedience, would, upon the whole, 
where every consequence indirect as well as 
direct is taken into account, be promoted by 
shaking off that power which is inconsistent with 
its great object, remonstrance, even rebellion 
itself, if that name can fitly be given in such cir- 


30 


cumstances of dreadful necessity, to the expres- 
sion of the public will, has more truly its divine 
rights than established authority, when forgetful 
of that end and object for which God has sanc- 
tioned it at all. 

“The speculative line of demarcation where 
obedience ought to end, and resistance must begin 
is,’ as Mr. Burke truly says, “faint, obscure, and 
not easily definable. It is not a single act, or a 
single event which determines it. Governments 
must be abused and deranged, indeed, before it 
can be thought of; and the prospect of the future 
must be as bad as the experience of the past. 
When things are in that lamentable condition, the 
nature of the disease is to indicate the remedy, 
to those whom nature has qualified to administer 
in extremities, this critical, ambiguous, and bitter 
potion to a distempered state. Times and occa- 
sions and provocations will teach their own lessons. 
The wise will determine from the gravity of the 
case ; the high-minded from disdain and indignation 
at abusive power in unworthy hands; the brave 
and bold from the love of honorable danger in a 
generous cause; but with or without right, a re- 
volution will be the very last resource of the think- 
ing and the good.” 

“The last resource of the thinking and the 
good!” says this eloquent writer, but still a re- 
source! And when the necessity occurs, in which 
the Christian patriot, ‘ before obedient to the ruling 
power, feels that he has now another duty to per-_ 
form, when he sees with sorrow that a cause which 
is good in itself will demand the use of means, 


3l 


from which, with any other motive, he would have 
shrunk with abhorrence; he will lift his voice 
sadly indeed, but still loudly; he will lift his arm 
with reluctance, but when it is lifted, he will 
wield it with all the force which the thought of 
the happiness of his country and of the world, as, 
perhaps, dependent upon it will inspire ;’ for 
Christian benevolence has made a calculation in 
which his own happiness, and his own life are not 
to be counted as elements. If he emerges from 
the struggle sucessful, like our own Washington, 
in the serene evening of his days, he may look 
back with manly and permitted melancholy at the 
sacrifices and sufferings which the struggle has 
cost ; and upward, too, with Christian gratitude 
and joy, at the HIGHER Goon, and the GREATER HAP- 
PINESS, present and prospective, which the dread 
necessity of the sword has secured; and thus 
Christianity vindicates the righteousness of the 
cause. 

Some may be disappointed if we stop at these 
general principles. They press us with the 
question, whether there is not a Power and an 
authority higher than human government; and 
whether we are not under an obligation to obey 
the former in all cases, whenever it comes into 
conflict and collision with the latter. That ques- 
tion, my brethren, has but one side. I speak as 
an American citizen, and as a Christian minister. 
Stated in this form, it admits of no discussion. 
We are a Christian people. We are not a nation 
of atheists. We cannot deny the existence and 
supremacy of God. This question of the supre- 


eT ET 


32 


macy of the Almighty, in its naked, abstract form, 
never was presented in any legislation to the 
American people. If it were, it would be de- 
cided with wonderful unanimity. The people 
of France once presumed to decide the ques- 
tion ; and they pronounced the infatuated opinion 
that there was no God ; and the pressure of divine 
law taken off; voleanic explosions and earthquakes 
ensued, the rumblings and reverberations of which 
have not yet ceased. We must not be drawn 
into a false issue. The minds of many good men 
have been thrown into a false position. They have 
really thought that it was a matter of debate 
whether there was a Power higher than human 
government. They know, they feel that there is 
a God, greater, wiser, and better than man. We 
all believe it. You must not deny it, or doubt it. 
If you take for your premises a denial ofsthis truth, 
imbedded in our hearts, your logic and your 
legislation will surely be refuted. We cannot 
admit that, at this period of time, this truth is to 
be debated. We drew it in with our mother’s 
milk. Our bones are full of the strength of it. It 
has been taught us in our homes, in our schools, 
in our churches. The supremacy of God is recog- 
nized in our courts of justice, in our halls of legis- 
lation, in every judicial oath, in all the solemn 
forms in which government is administered. It 
rests as the foundation stone of our Republic, and 
it cannot be dug up or disturbed. 

Prove to us a Christian people what God would 
have us to do, and our duty is plain. Convince us, 
by infallible evidence, that God demands a speci- 


33 


fic act, and we will do it, though it leads us to 
lion’s dens, or furnaces of fire. We will dare to 
do it in the face of all interdicts, of all opposition, 
even, as Luther said when on his way to Worms, 
if there were as many devils in our path, as tiles 
upon the houses. 

But the real question, and thé only question 
which can arise among a religious people is this : 
what IS the willof God? How shall we arrive ata 
knowledge of what God requires of us in a partic- 
ular case? The general direction is given us in 
the inspired Scriptures by God himself, that we 
must obey Government: not for wrath, that is, 
through fear of punishment, but for “conscience 
sake.” Before you can bring the sanction of God’s 
name to countenance resistance to human law, it 
is incumbent on you to show, by substantial and 
satisfactory proof that the authority of God re- 
quires that resistance. Perhaps you are mista- 
ken. It may be that you are misinformed and 
have misjudged. The question is; whether the 
will of. God requires or does not require you to 
obey the civil law. It isa “petitio principii,”’— 

a begging of the whole questicn—to justify your 
resistance to human law, on the ground of obedi- 
ence to a Divine law; unless you can furnish ade- 
quate proof that the divine law compels you to 
that resistance. That is the question, the only 
question, and the whole question that can be pre- 
sented to a patriotic and Christian citizen. Con- 
vince us by infallible proof, that God requires of 
us to oppose, at all lengths, a given law, then 
we will oppose it manfully and courageously. 


34 


But how do you prove this? By what process do 
you arrive at such an authoritative and infallible 
conviction? This is the whole gist of the subject. 
When Peter and John, (a case so often cited, and as 
often perverted,) refused obedience to the Jewish 
Sanhedrim, who had prohibited their preaching— 
saying so gallantly and courageously, “‘ whether it is 
right in the sight of God, to hearken unto God, or 
unto men, judge ye;” they had infallible, they had 
Supreme authority to justify their resistance. Their 
Divine Lord, the personification of divine law had 
commanded them to do that definite and distinctive 
thing. It was not a matter of doubtful propriety, of 
uncertain inference with them, what to do; that one 
thing—to preach the gospel—remission of sins in the 
name of Christ, they were positively directed to do. 
The same Being, who created governments, and 
requires us to honor and obey them, commanded 
them, in explicit terms, to do that very thing, even 
though opposed by kings, governors and councils. 
Their noble conformity to that command was jus- 
tified by the very highest authority ; and they went 
on calmly, fearlessly doing their Lord’s will ; and 
when the wrath of kings waxed hot against them 
they were meekly ready for the sacrifice, and un- 
resistingly bowed their necks to the sword. 

But the question is, how we, with no Divine 
Lord and Master at our side, to instruct and 
authorize us in every given case, how we shall be 
sure that we have the sanction of God in a reli- 
gious opposition to any human law? Do you say 
that feeling —your own feelings, instruct you as to 
what God would have you to do? But feelings 


35 


are of contrary qualities. ‘They differ in different 
men. They depend very much upon habits of 
association and education. Your feelings may be 
right or wrong. We would have you to prove to 
us that they are right. In obedience to the law 
of God, the feelings of the heart are all and every- 
thing. Outward service, with no coneurrence of 
the heart, is impious mockery. But it is otherwise 
in respect of human enactments. It is no sin to 
feel that they are imperfect. But the separate 
question of duty still recurs, must not the law be 
obeyed, notwithstanding the feelings oppose it? 
Which shall be ascendant, principle or impulse ? 
Is your conscience a correct exponent of God’s 
will and law? Here we have need of the most 
careful analysis, the most cautious discriminations. 
We are all accustomed to admit that the man who 
follows a good conscience, in a good cause, even 
unto death, is the noblest of his race. Such a 
man is above your pity, above your jest. But the 
glory of the act lies in the emphasis of the qualify- 
ing word, a good conscience and a good cause. 
Therefore to infer that every conscience, in every 
cause is the highest law for human conduct is a 
most perilous sophism. We read in the Word of 
God of an evil conscience, a weak conscience and a 
defiled conscience. What is Conscience? I will 
not delay or perplex you with the metaphysics of. 
the schools. I will not pronounce whether it is an 
act of the mind or a faculty of the mind. I will 
not say whether it is an original or a derived 
faculty. If the latter, I will not trace its pedigree, 
or decide which theory was right, that of Adam 


36 


Smith or of Sir James Mackintosh. A more 
general answer will suffice ; it is the mind itself, 
pronouncing judicially upon its own acts. It is the 
testimony of the mind approving actions which it 
thinks to be good, and reproaching itself with 
those it believes to be evil. It is the judgment of 
the mind in view of certain rules. It does not 
originate the rule. It is not the legislative power 
that enacts laws, but the judicial power that 
decides on our conformity to law. It is a faculty 
which itself needs to be instructed. A sun-dial 
can be of no use except it be fixed by a true 
meridian ; and even then the old fashioned inscrip- 
tion is verified, ‘“ Nihil sine lumine”—Useless 
without the sun. Clothe every conscience with the 
authority of law, if it be not rightly instructed,it 
is the ringleader in mischief. Saul of Tarsus verily 
thought within himself that he ought to do many 
things contrary to the name of Jesus. As the 
conscience is the mind itself, and the mind is the 
man, the man may be ignorant, he may be imbe- 
cile, he may be prejudiced, he may be wilfully 
ignorant, he may be self-interested and self-willed ; 
he may have a small share of that wisdom that 
“looketh before and after,” and, consequently, his 
opinion cannot be authoritative to himself or to 
another. Sincerity of judgment is no proof of its 
correctness. ‘There is a way that seemeth right 
to a man, but the end thereof is death.” He 
ought to know more and judge better than he does. 

Because there is a sweetness and a glory in the 
testimony of a good conscience, acting in religious 
matters, under the clear light and positive teach- 


37 | 
ings of Revelation, many infer, most fallaciously, 
that there is a sacredness and divine authority 


even in their errors of judgment if they but endow 
them with the name of conscience. 


Nemo suae mentis motus non zstimat equos 
Quodve volunt homines, se bene velle putant. 


There is no truth in Theology more clearly de- 
fined than the necessity of informing, instructing, 
and regulating the conscience by correct rules. 
A man who is conscientious in doing wrong is the 
most dangerous of his race. He has the propelling 
power without the helm or the brake. So far as 
‘ the conscience is accurately informed, by the light 
of nature, or by the Revelation of God, it is of use 
and value; but the weight to be attached to the 
judgment of an individual on other matters, even 
though it passes by the name of conscience, is to 
be proportioned to our estimate of his intelligence, 
wisdom and goodness. As Jeremy Taylor has 
expressed it, in that Thesaurus of philosophy and 
erudition, the ‘ Ductor Dubitantium,” “a man 
may be conducted by an abused conscience, so 
long as the legislative reason is not conjoined to 
the judge conscience, that is, while by unapt in- 
struments we suffer our persuasions to be deter- 
mined.” Beyond the fact that a man follows his 
own conscience there lies another question, ‘ Is his 
conscience RicHT? Is it correct, true, and good ? 
A good conscience is one that is intelligently 
acquiescent with the will ef God. The question 
then immediately recurs, how do we know ina 
given case, not defined in the Revealed Word, what 


eg mn 5 ee i a 


38 


the will of God is? We have no Urim and 
Thummim to furnish us with an infallible decision. 
We have no Holy of Holies from which the voice 
of God proceeds in audible directions. We have 
no visible Form of supreme law to whom we may 
go as the disciples to Christ, saying ‘‘ Lord, what 
wilt thou have us to do?” who will resolve for us 
every point of casuistry by an infallible interpreta- 
tion. We do not believe in any Pope as the 
vicegerent of God. The Pantheist is perfectly 
consistent when he makes the instinct, the feeling 
of the individual man the supreme law, for his 
language is that ‘man is God,’ and according to 
him the idea of mistake or wrong is an absurdity. 
But we believe in man’s personality and indivi- 
duality, moreover in his errors and sins. 

I will not shrink from the responsibility of an- 
swering this question; how may we hope to ar- 
rive at the knowledge of God’s will, and what are 
the elements of a good conscience ? 

We arrive at that high conviction by the calm 
exercise of our own reason ; by intelligent thinking ; 
by honest judgments, and by the use of all human 
and enspired wisdom which we can command. It 
will not be communicated to us miraculously. We 
must think ; we must study; we must compare ; 
we must judge; we must pray. We must take 
the Word of God, and inquire how this or that 
course of conduct will square with this: divine and 
infallible law. Perhaps we shall not all be 
perfectly agreed in our judgments. There are dif- 
ferent degrees of intelligence, comprehension, hon- 
esty and candor among men. So long as differ- 


39 


ences of capacity and character exist, there will be 
differences of-opinion. Perfect unanimity of sen- 
timent is not to be expected in a world of imper- 
fection. We arrive at ultimate truths by a long 
process of discussions and experiments; it may be, 
by mistakes and corrections, but truth is the 
ultimate result if candor and kindness are at the 
helm.* 

Now, in forming our opinion as to the will of 
God, in a particular case, where definite instructions 
are withheld, there is one consideration, which 
must be our religious guide. It is an inseparable 
element of a good conscience in distinction 
from a rash, prejudiced, or ignorant conscience. 
That is an intelligent Lookine AT CONSEQUENCES.+ 


* No shadow of ambiguity can rest upon the course to be 
pursued by one who receives religious principles at large, or 
particular instructions 7mmediately from Heaven, and who is 
commanded to promulgate what he has so learned. Whosoever 
has a commission of this sort may calmly discharge his duty, and 
may leave all consequences to Him who has foreseen every 
contingence. This being obvious, it seems not less so that the 
absence of miraculous attestations ought to make some difference 
in the conduct, or at least in the style of those who insist upon 
conformity to their opinions. If the man who derives his opinions 
simply (by his own confession) from his personal study of the 
scriptures, and who has enjoyed none but ordinary aids, and who 
can advance no pretensions which other men may not also chal- 
lenge, is entitled to speak in the tone, and to exercise the authority 
of a prophet or apostle, then where was the necessity of the 
extraordinary powers with which prophets and apostles were 
endowed ? 

We should not for a moment hold controversy with a man 


t A right conscience is that which guides our actions by right 
and proportioned means to a right end.—Dvctor Dusitanrivum. 


40 


I know that it is fashionable in some quarters, 
to cry out against the philosophy of expediency, 
as if it were synonymous with a mean, ¢ime-serving 
policy. Society has not a greater danger to 
apprehend than that which arises from this one 
mistake. I cannot ‘ take it for granted,’ all at once, 
that any law is to be resisted, and resisted forci- 
bly, without looking at the consequences of that 
resistance. These I must weigh and compare, in 
forming my judgment as to what the will of God 
is. Give me an express command from the mouth 
of the Lord, and I have nothing to do with conse- 
quences. Should the edict be as from the King 
of Babylon, that no man should. pray, we would do 
as Daniel did, for God has commanded us to pray. 
But in the absence of specific directions, in cases 
confessedly intricate and involved how may I know 


whether he ought or ought not to promulgate the will of God 
when he knows tt, and to challenge the obedience of all men to 
that will. This duty is granted, but we may surely ask him to 
exhibit his credentials. "We shall be the first to submit to his 
dictation, when we have actually seen the seal of heaven in his 
hand, and are satisfied on the capital point of his divine legation. 
The occult and fundamental principle of all religious rancour, 
and fanaticism, whether it be avowed or not, is this assumption 
of divine authority in behalf of what is simply an individual 
opinion. “I THINK so” is the whole residuum that can be found 
after evaporating the prodigious pretensions of the zealot dema- 
gosue. What is this will of God? This authority of Heaven? 
This sacred cause of Truth and Righteousness? Nothing, 
absolutely nothing more thaw “I tH1nk so.” Strip the schismatic 
declamation of its finery and its sublimity, of its thunder and its 
fire, and there remains just this meagre and scarcely visible 
particle, the intrinsic value of which it would be impossible to 
express.—Saturvay Evenine. Art. Charityand Conscience. 


4] 


what the will of God is, but, among other things, 
by. a sagacious and benevolent comparison of 
effects and results Without this, so far as they 
come within the range of my judgment, I am a 
blind man; and Iam striking in the dark. The 
great law of Christian expediency is the law of 
God’s own kingdom ; and may be defined as the 
using of the best means for the best ends. Those 
ends must come under my consideration as an in- 
telligent Christian. Imperfections, incidental evils 
may be in the way, but in studying to know my 
duty as a Christian, I forswear my reason, if I do 
not calmly and solemnly measure results. 
Admitting that the right of revolution resides in 
every people; that those for whose advantage 
government was instituted, possess the right to 
modify the form of that government, or resist its 
action when needful for their greater good; it 
must be the first question to be decided, whether 
the proposed change or resistance does involve 
that greater good, the prospect of which alone 
justifies the change. That question has been 
revolved and decided by every martyr and patriot 
who ever suffered for freedom and for truth. It is 
the settlement of that one question which makes 
the difference between a patriotic revolution, and 
lawless rebellion. That was the question which 
was agitated and decided in Great Britain in 1688. 
The leaders of the people:saw the perils of revolu- 
tion. They took into account, on the one hand, all 
the evils and all the hopes which attended a 
change ; and on the other hand, all the evils and 
advantages there were in a continued succession. 
Weighing these together; they decided that the 
4 


42 


evils they endured and must endure under the reign 
of the bigoted James, more than counter-balanced 
all the advantages which c>uld accrue from his 
administration of the state. Looking into futurity, 
acting for posterity as well as for themselves, they 
decided that the interests of the Protestant reli- 
gion, that the general order, stability, and happi- 
ness of the country required a change in the gov- 
ernment, and the adoption of a new succession. 
The action had regard beyond incidental evils to 
an ultimate good. The action was justified by 
Christian expediency, and so was one, as we be- 
lieve, which secured the favor and blessing of God. 

The same question was revolved and resolved 
by our fathers in their memorable struggle for inde- 
pendence. They were burdened with evils. They 
sought their removal. They petitioned, they re- 
monstrated. By all legal and prescribed methods 
they sought for relief and redress. At length the 
question stared them full in the face, whether, 
painful as it was, difficult as it was, it was not 
better, on the whole, for their posterity, for their 
country, and for the world, to forego all connection 
with the mother country and establish a new 
government for themselves.. That question was 
decided, thoughtfully, calmly, solemnly, prayer- 
fully. We believe it was decided wisely ; that it 
was decided in accordance with the will of God; 
for it was decided according to Christian expe- 
diency; the endurance of incidental evil for an 
ultimate greater and more glorious good. That 
same, question is to be met, answered, decided 
intelligently by every man, before he is justified, in 
resistance to government and law. I do not say 


43 


that the case cannot arise in which resistance is 
justifiable. Far am I from affirming that human 
laws cannot be wrong, and that we must always 
give to them an indiscriminate approval. But 
when the question of duty arises as to acquiesence 
or resistance, and I set myself to quadrate my con- 
science with the will of God, I must, in the absence 
of definite directions, in settling and deciding what 
ts right and what zs duty, take into account the 
consequences which follow my decision. The 
divine right of government is in its tendency to pub- 
hie happiness; and the divine right of resistance is 
to be inferred from the tendency of that resistance 
toa greater happiness than could follow acquies- 
ence; and until that tendency is made clear and 
certain, he that resisteth the power resisteth God. 

Both of the Revolutions from which I have drawn 
my illustrations derive all their, splendor from the 
great principle on which they rest, that the public 
good is the great end of government. 

As to the question of the constitutionality of any 
law; that belongs not to the department of 
Christian ethics.. That is a matter of simple legal 
and judicial decision. When the inquiry is raised, 
is this or that enactment legal and constitutional, 
we refer it to the proper tribunal for investigation. 
The language of the town clerk of Ephesus to the 
vociferous mob that would have done violence to 
Paul was truly sensible. “Ye ought to be quiet, 
and to do nothing rashly ; the law is open, and 
there are deputies ; let them implead one another.” 
Be thankful to God that, you live in a land where 
questions of law are not decided arbitrarily’ by the 
will of an individual; but in open court, with 


i ee 


44 


prescribed modes, with fair investigation, free dis- 
eussion, the solemn forms of justice, and where 
proper redress is available for all obnoxious legisla- 
tion. Eachand every man undertaking to decide 
for himself what is legal and what is obligatory is 
anarchy ; ruinous to man, and hateful to God. 
Prove yourself a Christian citizen by referring that 
interpretation to those whose province and duty it 
is to decide. 

That decision being given, and the law proved 
to be law-—-you ask again what is your duty on 
Christian and ethical principles, in reference to a 
Jaw which you dislike: I answer unhesitatingly ; 
obedience to Jaw, till such time as you can make 
it sure that the evils which that law entails so far 
overbalance all the good which obedience to law 
secures, that you are justified in resistance, for the 
sake of a surer, a higher, and a greater good: 
We do not say that the law itself may not be dis- 
tasteful to your sensibilities; we do not say but 
that you may regret the necessity of its enact- 
ment ; we do not forbid you to deplore the circum- 
stances which gave it existence ; we do not forbid 
you to use all proper means to substitute a law which 
is better ; we do not deny the right of private judg- 


-ment,nor the right of resistance, nor the right of 


revolution ; but in God’s name, we do insist, before 
that last right be resorted to, and as you would jus- 
tify your resistance on Christian principles, that you 
should convince yourself and convince others, that 
the benefits to be secured by resistance or revolu- 
tion, are vastly greater than any which follow acqui- 
esence under constitutional order and security. To 
this narrow point we must come at last. You 


45 

must not begin with natural rights and abstract 
rights, and push them ina blind, headstrong man- 
ner, in straight lines; for society is organized with 
a modification of our natural rights; and the ad- 
vantages of a well-organized and well-governed 
social state are secured by the sacrifice of indivi- 
dual interests and personal preferences; and the 
question is, whether this state and order of things is 
not better than the resolution of society into its orig- 
inal elements (if such a thing were possible), each in- 
dividual being left to assert and defend his own 
rights, in his own way, and by his own strength. 

Our Divine Lord beheld the sufferings of his 
countrymen under Roman oppression. Jewish 
taxation was farmed out in a way to occasion the 
Jewish nation unprecedented suffering. The 
Pharisees, designing to entrap him, asked whether 
it was lawful to pay tribute to Cesar. “ Of whom,” 
asked he in calmest majesty, ‘do you take tribute ; 
of children, or of strangers?” They say “of 
strangers.” Then, replied he, are the cHILDREN 
FREE. But he did not take his stand on this natural 
right and refuse the tribute. Acquiesence even in 
an unjust law, was better than any advantage which 
could be attained bya premature, inopportune, and 
abortive resistance. So he sent to the sea and pro- 
eured the coin for himself and his disciples. A 
beautiful illustration, we must all admit, of the great 
law of Christian expediency. Let the best thing be 
done, that can be done, in given circumstances. 

Certainly it is your right to eat meat, but for 
“meat do not destroy the work of God.” The 
absence of all imperfection, of all defect, is more 
than can be demanded of anything human. But do 


46 


not destroy life for the sake of remedying blind- 
ness, deafness, or lameness.. Do’ not demolish 
the temple for the sake of repairing a defect in 
its facade. Do not break the costly.vase because 
of an unseemly stain on its surface. Do not over- 
turn law and government to remove an incidental 
evil. If the evil, in your sober judgment, in your 
calm and religious reason, is so vast, so accumula- 
tive, so progressive, as to throw into shade all’ the 
benefits which accrue from a government adminis- 
tered according to charters and constitutions, the 
course before you is plain. The right of resistance 
is yours. The right of revolution is yours. But BE- 
WARE THAT YOU DO NOT MAKE A MISTAKE. Inter- 
ests too vast, too solemn, for ourselves and the world 
are at stake, to justify rashness. . In other matters 
you may trifle ; but you must not trifle here. Mis- 
takes elsewhere may be innocent ; but they are not 
innocent here. 

Do evils of such helpless, hopeless, overshadow- 
ing enormity exist in our own country, and under 
our own government, that resistance, the “ last re- 
source of the thinking and the good” is necessary ? 
Evils there are. But are they of such a charae- 
ter as to overbalance the good? Slavery is an 
evil. We allow no man to surpass us in our utter 
detestation of the system. It existed in the coun- 
try when our stern-souled fathers were called to 
frame the government. It existed by no choice 
‘or fault of theirs. When deliberating as to the for- 
mation of a constitution they were compelled to re- 
cognize the existence of an evil which they deplor- 
ed; just asin using steel fora lever you mustallow 
for its natural properties, its permanent elasticity. _ 


47 


The good notwithstanding the evil, when that evil is 
unavoidable and incidental. They have transmitted 
to us a priceless heritage, though the evil still 
inheres. Would to God that it never had existed. 
But can we soberly, intelligently, and religiously 
decide that it is so great, intolerable, and incura- 
ble, that we are justified in defying law, tearing 
the constitution, revolutionizing the government ; 
risking the advantages enjoyed by us and our chil- 
dren, for the sake of its removal ? 

Every man, I think, will pause ere he rushes on 
such a decision. Circumnavigate the globe’; 
where do you find a government better than our 
own; one which better answers the ends of gov- 
ernment! Go to Madrid, to Vienna, to Constantino- . 
ple, to Rome, to Petersburgh, to Rio Janeiro, to 
Mexico, and be thankful for your own char- 
tered, free and liberal government. It is the 
product of long history,-of ancient events, ages 
of human experience. The roots of it lie back 
in the eventful scenes of other centuries. The 
scholar’s lamp, the patriot’s scaffold the mar- 
tyr’s cell, the Christian’s prayers, all the hopes 
of good men in ages past have been converging, in 
the sweeping current of history, to the production 
of these liberal yet secure institutions in which we 
rejoice. I see the forms of our own fathers, wise 
in counsel, valiant in deed, Christian in purpose, 
who won for us the battle, and bequeathed to 
us the heritage. Isee the ministers of God, whose 
spirits walked on every field of conflict, and whose 
prayers and preaching brought down the sanctions 
of religion to a cause which never could have 
triumphed had it not been good. All these come 


48 


thronging back, peopling the air, as if incapableof 
enjoying their, repose, while any. uncertainty 
overhangs the fruit of their sufferings and toils. 
I see the eyes of millions from every part of the 
world: turned towards us, eagerly watching the 
‘great experiment of self-government, I see the 
exiled and the sad from every land hastening for 
shelter to our shores; finding liberty, home, and 
hope, beneath the. protection of wholesome Jaws. 
I see the unparalleled .blessings which Divine 
Providence has conferred upon us in the past, the 
present, and which open. before us in the future. 
I see a nation of freemen, stretching from state\to 
state, from sea to sea; free thought, free labor, free 
religion, a free Bible ; schools, homes and churches ; 
a nation involving in its success the hopes of the 
world. Then I turn my tearful eye: to that dark 
spot in our history—that great mystery of Provi- 
dence; but I seem to see “the stars in their 
courses fighting” against it’ I feel that the evil is 
subordinate and incidental; not primary and 
intentional; and comparing evil with good, the 


smile of gladness will shine through the tears.of 


my regret. I cannot, I dare not, I will not take 
the torch of Erostratus and apply.it to a temple 
which is the wonder of the world, and a glory unto 


God. I will wait. I will hope. I will pray. My _ 
faith in God bids me be calm, patient, hopeful; be- — 


lieving that trials will consolidate our institutions, 
wisdom and goodness will perfect them, and that, 
with God’s blessing, they will stand :for us, for our 
children and children’s children, a beneficent shelter 
and guardianship for an intelligent, industrious, con- 
tented, united, Christian people, to theend of time. 


; 
{ 


£" GOD'S OWNERSHIP OF THE SEA. 


"| 


s. 


, x A 


SERMON 


| PREACHED AT THE 


Geitral Gougregational Ohurch, | 


PROVIDENCE, R. I.. 


OCTOBER 7, 1860. 


BY REY. LEONARD SWAIN, D. D. 


Reprinted by permission, from the July Number of the Bibliotheea Socra for 1861. 


PROVIDENCE: 
PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
1869. 


GOD’S OWNERSHIP OF THE SEA. 


SERMON 


PREACHED AT THE 


entyal {jongreqational {jhorch, 


| PROVIDENCE, R. I., 


OCTOBER 7, 1860. 


BY REY. LEONARD SWAIN, D. D. 


Reprinted by permission, from the July Number of the Bibliotheca Socra for 1861. 


® PROVIDENCE: 
PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS. 


1869. 


SERMON. 


Psalm xcy, 5—‘‘ Toe Sra IS HIS, AND HE MADE IT.” 


The traveler who would speak of his experience 
in foreign lands, must begin with the sea. Espec- 
ially is this the ease if he would speak of his jour- 
ney in its religious aspects and connections. For 
it is through the religion of the sea that he ap- 
proaches those lands, and through it that he returns 
fromthem. God has spread this vast pavement of 
his temple between the hemispheres, so that he who 
sails to foreign shores must pay a double tribute to 
the Most High; for through this temple he has to 
carry his anticipations as he goes, and his memo- 
ries when he returns. Nor can the mind of the 
traveler be so friyolous, or the objects of his jour- 
ney so trivial, but that the shadows of this temple 
will make themselves felt upon him during the long 
days that he is passing beneath them on his out- 
ward, and then again on his homeward, way. The 
sea speaks for God ; and however eager the tourist 
may be to reach the strand that lies before him and 
enter upon the career of business or pleasure that 
awaits him, he must check his impatience during 
this long interval of approach, and listen to the 


voice with which Jehovah speaks to him as, horizon — 
after horizon, he moves to his purpose along the — 
aisles of God’s mighty tabernacle of the deep. EE 

God’s way is in the sea as it is in the sanctuary ; : 
and having so recently come from beholding it, that 
the roll of the ship and the roar of the waves are 
scarcely yet vanished from my brain, let me speak 
to you of it in His house to-day ; that so His works 
may combine with His word to teach us the lessons 
of His greatness, and that some strains of that vast 
anthem of the deep that praises God round the 
whole world this morning may mingle with the 
worship which rises to him from this sanctuary. 

In speaking of God’s ownership of the sea, I 
wish to consider, first, some of the more important 
material uses which he has made of it to subserve 
in the economy of nature and for the welfare of — 
the world, and then to refer to some of those more — 
distinctively religious elements of impression by — 
which it becomes the symbol of His presence and 
the earthly temple of His glory. 

It is very natural, in looking at the ocean, and 
in traveling over its enormous breadth, to wonder | 
why such an immense mass of water should haye 
been created. When we think that three-fourths 
of the entire surface of the globe are covered by 
its waves, it seems to us like a vast disproportion. 
It is a common thing, in speaking of the sea, to 
call it “a-waste of waters.” It seems as if it were 
a mere desert, incapable of being turned to any — 
profitable use, and as if it would have been much 


| 
| 


B) 


better were its vast hollows filled up with solid 
land, and its immeasurable area covered with fields 
and forests, waving with harvests and_ resounding 
with the noise of cities and the busy life of men. 

But this is a mistake. Instead of being an in- 
cumbrance or a superfluity, the sea is as essential 
to the life of the world as the blood is to the life 
of the human body. Instead of being a waste 
and desert, it is the thing which keeps the earth 
itself from becoming a waste and desert. It is 
the world’s fountain of life and health and beauty ; 
and if it were taken away, the grass would perish 
from the mountains, the forests would crumble on 
the hills, the harvests would become powder on 
the plains, the continents would be one vast Sahara 
of frost and fire, and the solid globe itself, scarred 
and blasted on every side, would swing in the 
heavens as silent and dead as on the first morning 
of creation. ~ 

1. Water is as indespensible to all life, whether 
vegetable or animal, as is the air itself. From the 
cedar on the mountains to the lichen that clings to 
the wall ; from the mastodon that pastures on the 
forests to the animalcule that floats in the sun- 
beam ; from the leviathan that heaves the sea into 
billows to the microscopic creatures that swarm a 
million in a single foam-drop ; all alike depend for 
their existence on this single element, and must 
perish if it be withdrawn. But this element of 
water is supplied entirely by the sea. All the 
waters that are in the rivers, the lakes, the foun- 


tains, the vapors, the dew, the rain, the snow, 


come alike out of the ocean. It is a common 
impression that it is the flow of the rivers that fills 
the sea. It is a mistake. It is the flow of the sea 
that fills the rivers. The streams do not make the 
ocean, but the ocean makes the streams. We say 
that the rivers rise in the mountains and run into 
the sea; but the truer statement is, that the rivers 
rise in the sea and run to the mountains ; and that 
their passage thence is only their homeward jour- 
ney to the place from which they started. All the 
water of the rivers has once been in the clouds; 


and the clouds are but the condensation of the 


invisible vapor that floats in the air; and all this 
vapor has been lifted into the air by the heat of 
the sun playing upon the ocean. Most persons 
have no impression of the amount of water which 
the ocean is continually pouring into the sky, and 
which the sky itself is sending down in showers to 
refresh the earth. If they were told that there is a 
river above the clouds equal in size to the Mississip- 


pi or the Amazon; that this river is drawn up out — 


of the sea, more than a mile high; that it is always 
full of water, and that it is more than twenty-five 
thousand miles in length, reaching clear round the 
globe, they would call it a very extravagant asser- 
tion. And yet not only is this assertion substantial- 
ly true, but very much more than this is true. If all 
the waters in the sky were brought into one chan- 
nel, they would make a stream more than fifty 


times as large as the Mississippi or the Amazon. 


- How many rivers are they in the sky? Just as 


many as there are on the earth. If they were not 
first in the sky, how could they be on earth ? 
If it is the sky that keeps them full, then the sky 
must always have enough éo keep them full; that 
is, it must always be pouring down into them just 
as much as they themselves are pouring down into 
the sea. It is computed that the water which falls 
from the clouds every year, would cover the whole 
earth to the depth of five feet ; that is, if the earth 
were a leyel plain, it would spread over it an ocean 
of water five feet deep, reaching round the whole 
globe. The sky, therefore, has not only a river of 
water, but a whole ocean of it. And it has all 
come out of the sea. The sea, therefore, is the 
great inexhaustible fountain which is continually 
pouring up into the sky precisely as many streams, 
and as large, as all the rivers of the world are 
pouring into it. _ It is this which keeps the ocean 
at the same level from year to year. If it were 
not sending off into the air precisely as much as it 
receives from the rivers, it would be continually 
rising on its shores, and would finally overflow all 
the lands of the earth. 

And now if the sea is the real birthplace of the 
clouds and the rivers, if out of it come all the 
rains and dews of heaven, then instead of being a 
waste and an incumberance, it is a vast fountain of 
fruitfulmess, and the nurse and mother of all the 
living. Out of its mighty breasts come the re- 
sources that feed and support all the population of 


the world. All cities, nations, and continents of 


men, all cattle and creeping things and flying fowl, 
all the insect races that people the air with their 
million tribes innumerable, all grasses and grains 
that yield food for man and for beast, all flowers 
that brighten the earth with beauty, all trees of — 
the field and forest that shade the plains with their 
lowly drooping, or that lift their banners of glory 
against the sky as they march over a thousand hills 
—all these wait upon the sea, that they may receive 
their meat in due season. That which it gives 
them, they gather. It opens its hands, and they 
are filled with food. If it hides its tace, they are 
troubled, their breath is taken away, they die and 
return to their dust. 

Omnipresent and everywhere alike is this need 
and blessing of the sea. It is felt as truly in the 
centre of the continent, where, it may be, the rude 
inhabitant never heard of the ocean, as it is on the 
circumference of the wave-beaten shore. He is 
surrounded, every moment, by the presence and 
bounty of the sea. It is the sea that looks out 
upon him from every violet in his garden-bed ; 
from every spire of grass that drops upon his 
passing feet the beaded dew of the morning; from 
the rustling ranks of the growing corn; from the 
bending grain that fills the arms of the reaper ; 

_ from the juicy globes of gold and crimson that 
burn amongst the green orchard foliage; from his 
bursting presses, and his barns that are filled with 
plenty ; from the broad forehead of his cattle, and 


“ 9 : 


the rosy faces of his children ; from the cool-drop- 


ping well at his door; from the brook that mur- 
murs by its side, and the elm and spreading 
maple that weave their protecting branches beneath 
the sun, and swing their breezy shadows over his 
habitation. It is the sea that feeds him. It is 


* the sea that clothes him. It is the sea that cools 


him with the summer cloud, and that warms him 
with the blazing fires of winter. He eats the sea, 
he drinks the sea, he wears the sea, he plows and 
sows and reaps the sea, he buys and sells the sea, 
and makes wealth for himself and his children out 
of its rolling waters, though he lives a thousand 
leagues away from the shore, and has never looked 
on its crested beauty or listened to its eternal 
anthem. 

Thus the sea is not a waste and an incumbrance. 
Though it bears no harvests on its bosom, it yet 
sustains all the harvests of the world. Though a 
desert itself, it makes all the other wildernesses of 
the earth to bud and blossom as the rose. Though 
its own waters. are salt and wormwood, so that it 
cannot be tasted, it makes all the clouds of heaven 
to drop with sweetness, opens springs in the val- 
leys and rivers among the hills, and fountains in 
all dry places, and gives drink to all the inhabi- 
tants of the earth. 

2. A second use of the sea is to moderate the 
temperature of the world. A common method of 
warming houses in the winter is by the use of hot 
water. The water, being heated in the basement, 


is carried by iron pipes to the remotest parts of 
the building, where, parting with its warmth, and 
becoming cooler and heavier, it flows back again to 
the boiler, to be heated anew, and so to pass round 
in the same circuit continuously. The advantage 
of this method is, that the heat can be carried to 
great distances, and in any direction, either 
laterally or vertically, so that apartments many 
hundred feet removed from the furnace, can be 
warmed as well as if they were close at hand. 
Precisely such an office Js performed by the sea 
in warming the distant regions of the earth. The 
furnace is in the tropics. The ocean is the boiler. 
The vertical rays of the sun pour into it a heat 
that is almost like fire itself. The temperature of 
the sea is raised to eighty-six degrees, and the 
water, swelling and rising in the same proportion, 
is compelled to seek its level by flowing off to the 
right and left of the equator. Flowing to the 
north, these waters are gathered into the Gulf 
Stream, which acts as a conducting pipe, three 
thousand miles in length, and sends them with 
a velocity swifter than that of the Mississippi 
river, and with a volume that is greater by a thou- 
sand fold, to spread out their treasured heat over 
the North Atlantic, where the winds take it up 
into their breath and blow it in gales of continual 
summer across the lands that border on the ocean. 
A similar current passes down the opposite side of 
the equator, and conveys towards the polar 
regions of the south a stream of heated water, 


11 


which is sometimes known to be sixteen hundred 


miles in breadth. The effect of these currents in 
raising the temperature of the cold climates is 
almost incredible. They make Great Britain and 
France as warm as they would otherwise be if they 
were fifteen or twenty degrees nearer the equator. 
It is computed that if the amount of heat thus 
spread out over the Atlantic by the single influ- 
ence of the Gulf Stream in one winter’s day, were 
concentrated upon the atmosphere of France and 
Great Britain, it would be sufficient to raise the 
temperature of these two countries from the freez- 
ing-point to the full heat of summer. It is also 
computed that the heat carried off every day from 
the Gulf of Mexico alone, by this agency, is 
“¢ sufficient to raise mountains of iron from zero 
to the melting point, and to keep in flow from 
thence a molten stream of metal greater than the 
waters daily discharged by the Mississippi river.” 
Thus a double purpose is served by these currents ; 
for while they convey the needed warmth to the 
colder regions, they bear away from the tropics 
that superfluous heat which, if it were allowed to 
remain, would render the whole line of the equator 
intolerable and uninhabitable. And this is not the 
whole of the process of mitigation. For while the 
warm currents of the tropics are flowing towards 
the poles, the cold currents of the icy latitudes are 
moving towards the equator. Immense trains of 
icebergs are borne down by these streams towards 
the flaming furnaces of the line, and so the fervors 


of the torrid zone are cooled and comforted by the 
frosty breath of the arctic and antaretic waters. 
Thus each region gives to the other what it has in 
excess, and receives from the other what it has in 
deficiency. The poles are warmed by the sun, 
which does not reach the poles, and the tropics are 
cooled by the ice which cannot be formed within 
the tropics. If it were not for the sea, the entire 
belt of the tropics would be a desert of perpetual 
fire, and the entire polar regions would be a desert 
of perpetual frost. One-third of the whole earth’s 
surface would be unendurable with heat, another 
with cold, and only the remaining third would be 
fit for human habitation; whereas now, under 
these tempering influences of the ocean, the whole 
width of the world, with few exceptions, is given 
to man for his dwelling ; and wherever he goes he 
finds a thousand forms of vegetable and animal life, 
which the same genial influence has made to wait — 
upon him and be subservient to him. If we praise 
the ingenuity of man, who breaks the cold of win- 
ter by artificial heat, and that, too, by inventions 
which are themselves but a feeble and distant copy 
of what Nature has done before him on an infinite- 
ly grander scale, how should we admire the wis- 
dom and goodness of Him who first set the great 
copy for man, and who makes the ocean itself an 
apparatus for storing up the heat of the vast tropi- 
cal furnace, and sending thus all the softness and 
wealth of the garnered summer to the most dis- 
tant quarters of the globe ! 


13 


3. A third important use of the sea is to be a 
_ perpetual source of health to the world. Without ~ 
it, there could be no drainage for the lands. The 
process of death and decay, which is continually 
going on in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, 
would soon make the whole surface of the earth 
one vast receptacle of corruption, whose stagnant 
mass would breathe a pestilence, sweeping away all 
the life of a continent. The winds would not purify 
it; for, having no place to deposit the burden, it 
would only accumulate in their hands, and filling 
their breath with its poisonous effluvia, it would 
make them swift ministers of death, carrying the 
sword of destruction into every part of the world 
at once. ‘The only possible drainage of the world 
is by water. It is as necessary for the purpose of 
carrying away the feculence of decay and death, as 
it is for the purpose of bringing in and distributing 
to their place the positive.materials of life. It is 
in this respect precisely what the blood is to the 
body. It not only brings what is necessary for 
growth and sustenance, but it takes away and 
discharges from the system every thing which 
has accomplished its office, and which, by remain- 
ing longerin its place, would be asource of disease 
and death. 

Its first office is simply mechanical. ‘The rains 
of heaven come fresh from the sea. Evaporation 
has emptied their hands of all previous burdens, so 
that their utmost powers of absorption may be ready 
for the new toil. Falling upon all the surface of 


2 


ie ae i, | oe -_ 
gi ee 


the world, and penetrating beneath as far as the 
process of putrefaction can reach, they dissolve all 
substances which decay has touched; and while a 
a portion of it is carried down to the roots of the 
trees, the grasses and the grains, there to be taken 
up and moulded into new forms of life, the remain- 
der is washed into the brooks, by them carried to 
the rivers, and by these conveyed to the sea, whose 
cayerns are vast enough to contain all the dregs of 
the continents, and whose various salts and chem- 
ical re-agents are abundantly sufficient to correct 
all their destructive powers, and prevent them from 
breathing up out of that watery sepulchre an atmos- 
phere of poison and of plague. 

Thus the sea is the scavenger of the world. Its 
agency is omnipresent. Its vigilance is ommi- 
scient. Where no sanitary committee could ever 
come, where no police could ever penetrate, its 
myriad eyes are searching, and its million hands 
are busy exploring all the lurking-places of decay, 
bearing swiftly off the dangerous sediments of life, 
and laying them a thousand miles away in the slimy 
bottom of the deep. And while all this is done with 
such silence and secrecy that it attracts no notice, 
yet the results in the aggregate are immense 
beyond conception. More than a thousand million 
tons of the sediment of the lands, mixed with this 
material of disease and death, is borne from either 
continent to the sea by the river-flow of a single 
summer. All the ships and railroads of the world, 
and all the men and animals of the world, work- 


TS 


15 


ing together upon this great sanitary toil, could 
not accomplish what is thus silently and easily 


- accomplished by the sea. 


And besides this mechanical process of drain- 
age, by which the decay of the continents is con- 
tinually washed from the lands and swept into the 
eayerns of the deep, there is another important 
process by which the sea itself, in its own domain, 
is perpetually working for the health of the world. 
It is set to purify the atmosphere; and so the 
winds, whose wings are heavy and whose breath 
is sick with the malaria of the lands over which 
they have blown, are sent out to range over these 
mighty pastures of the deep, to plunge and play 
with its rolling billows, and dip their pinions over 
and over in its healing waters. There they rest 
when they are weary, cradled into sleep on the 
vast swinging couch of the ocean. There they 
rouse themselves when they are refreshed, and, 
lifting its waves upon their shoulders, they dash it 
into spray with their hands, and hurl it backwards 
and forwards through a thousand leagues of sky, 
until their whole substance being drenched, and 
bathed, and washed, and winnowed, and shifted 
through and through by this glorious baptism, they 
fill their mighty lungs once more with the sweet 
breath of ocean, and striking their wings for the 
shore, go breathing health and vigor along all the 
fainting hosts that wait for them in mountain and 
forest and valley and plain, till the whole drooping 
continent lifts up its rejoicing face and mingles its 


laughter with the sea that has waked it from its 
fevered sleep and poured such tides of returning 
life through all its shrivelled arteries. 
Thus, both by its mechanical and its oheieal 
powers, is the sea set for the healing of the na- ~ 
tions. It veins the earth with healthful blood and 
feeds its nostrils with the breath of life. It clean- 
ses it from the corruption of its own decay, repairs 
the waste and weakness of its growing age, keeps 
its brow pure and sparkling as the sapphire sky, 
thrills its form with the pulse of eternal youth, 
and fires it with the flush of eternal beauty. 
4. It may be mentioned, as a fourth office of 
the sea, that it is set to furnish the great natural 
pathways of the world. Perhaps one of the first 
impressions in looking upon the sea is, that it is a 
great barrier between the nations ; that it puts the 
continents much further asunder than they would 
otherwise be; and that thus it acts as an unsocial- 
izing force, hindering the intercourse of the world. 
The truth lies in just the opposite direction. In- 
stead of a barrier, the sea is a road across the bar- 
rier ; instead of putting the ends of the earth fur- 
ther apart, it brings them nearer together ; instead 
of being an unsocializing and an alienating force 
between them, it is the surest means of their ac- 
quaintance, and the most effectual bond of their 
fellowship. 

_ Water is indeed a treacherous element, and will 

not, like the solid land, bear the foot of man or the 

hoof of beast ; and so, when they come to its bor- 


1% 


ee 


ders in river, lake, or sea, both man and beast 
instinctively turn back as they would from a wall 
of rock or a circle of fire. The sea, therefore, is 
to that extent a barrier, that it lays instant restraint 
upon human travel in its primitive method and its 
freest detail. It does draw a decisive boundary 
around a nation, and keep its main population in 
on every side. But this is, in itself, a blessing. 
For boundaries are necessary to give individuality 
to nations, as they are to give individuality to men. 
There must be an outline to their personality ; and 
the firmer that outline is drawn, the greater vigor 
of character, and the deeper intensity of life they 
are likely. to possess. The sea, therefore, first 
defines a nation to itself, fills it up with the reflu- 
ence and reaction of its own proper life ; and then, 
when it has reached a certain height and fulness, 
opens the door and lets it forth to find the life of 
other nations, and feel the brotherhood of the > 
world. Hence, other things being equal, the 
strongest nations in civilized history have always ~ 
been the insular or peninsular ones, like England, 
Italy, and Greece, which, using the sea in the be- 
ginning as a separation from other lands, and 
making it a boundary, a barrier, and a defence, 
haye by it been able so to compress and compact 
their own energies that they have, at last, become 
strong enough to burst the ocean barrier that sur- 
rounded them, and then to employ the sea itself as 
an arm of power to reach and subsidize the ends of 
the earth. For while man cannot tread the sea 


a 


with his foot, he can travel it by his hand; and 
when his hand becomes strong enough to lay the 
keel and spread the sail, and his art is cunning 
enough to poise the needle and map the stars of 
the sky, then the sea lays all its breadth beneath 
him, brings all the winds of heayen to his help, 
unlocks the gates of distant continents to his ap- 
proach, and pours the riches of the globe at his 
feet. 

Thus, as in so many other instances, that which 
was at first a hindrance, becomes at last a help and 
a blessing ; for the very presence of the barrier 
suggests, provokes, and compels that development 
of skill and power by which the barrier may be 
overcome; and when it is overcome, then that 
which was at first a wall to bar all further progress, 
becomes a path of such breadth, and permanence, 
and ease of tread, as could not have been con- 
structed by all the art and all the strength of man. 
Hence the ocean has been the great educator of the 
world. It has furnished the prime stimulus of 
national energy, and has determined, in the begin- 
ning and for all time, the paths in which all great 
history must run. The course of empire began on 
its shores, and has always kept within sight of its 
waters. No great nation has ever sprung up ex- 
cept on the sea-side, or by the banks of those great 
navigable rivers which are themselves but an exten- 
sion of thesea. Had it not been for the Mediter- 
ranean, the history of Egypt, of Phenecia, of 
Greece and Rome and Carthage, would have been 


19 


impossible. Had it not been for the ocean itself, 
had the surface of the globe been one vast unbroken 
continent of land, the inhabitants on its opposite 
sides would haye been practically as far apart as 
though they lived on different planets. All effec- 
tive communication between remote parts of the 
world would have been impossible, for there would 
haye been no highway between the nations. Only 
a system of railways, netting the world like the 
lines of latitude and longitude, could have made up 
for the want of the sea; and these could be fur- 
nished only as the latest and most wonderful result 
of that national development in wealth, power, and 
mechanical skill which is the fruit of a civilization 
that has already spanned the globe, and laid the 
resources of the world under contribution. Even 
with all the wealth, genius, and civilization which 
the world now contains, there is not a single rail- 
road across either of the continents ; but the broad 
path of the sea, that requires no building or repair- 
ing, has stretched between and around them ever 
since the creation of man. The railway is one of 
the last products of civilization and human skill, 
but a ship is one of the first; and so through all 
these thousands of years commerce has been mov- 
ing on its way, first guiding its timid prow along 
the shores of the nations, then pushing its keel 
athwart the inland seas, and finally nailing its flag 
to the mast and laying its adventurous course right 
across the main ocean. Hence the sea has divided 
the lands only at last to bring them more closely 


together. It has made the nations strangers for a 


time, only to bring them at length into a more in- 


timate and helpful fellowship. The world has 
become acquainted with itself much more speedily 
and thoroughly than it could have done had it been 
all dry land ; and so the wide channels of the deep 
have been but the needful spaces on which the vital 
forces of all the lands might meet and mix in one, 
and from which, as from a central heart, they 
might send the pulse of their mingled life beating 
steadily around the globe. : 

And what is true of the whole world in this re- 
spect, is equally true of each separate division of 
the earth. How much more rapidly was our own 
land explored and settled; how much more easily 
is it held and wielded by the civilized life that now 
occupies it, than would have been possible without 
the ocean border which girds it, and the gulfs and 
bays and lakes and mighty streams, which are them- 
selves the children of the sea, and which carry the 
ocean paths for thousands of miles inland, even to 
the very base of the central mountains! How 
long would it have taken for all the civilization of 
the world combined to open such roads of entrance 
into the depths of this continent, as are furnished 
by the great chain of lakes which the sea has 
thrown, like a necklace, around our northern bor- 
der, and by that equally stupendous river which it 
has sent up to meet them from the Gulf of Mexico 
on the south? By means of these great natural 
pathways, which God’s hand had opened, the most 


ee hhh 


interior recesses of the country could be penetrated 
at once; so that while the land was yet an un- 
broken wilderness, hundreds of years before plank 
roads and railways could have pushed the westward 
wave of civilization over the Alleghany hills, these 
great liquid roads which the sea had builded, were 
stretching their silver pavements for a thousand 
miles on eyery side, ready to convey the explorer 
or the emigrant from the ocean to the mountains, 
and from the mountains to the ocean, and to pour 
into the inmost heart of the continent the floating 
| commerce of the world. 

5. A fifth office of the sea is to furnish an inex- 
haustible storehouse of power for the world. The 
two greatest available powers known to man, are 
those of running water and steam ; and both these 
come out of the sea; the former being the mere 
mechanical weight of the rivers falling from the 
uplands to the ocean, and returning to it the treas- 
ures which they have received from it through the 
sky, and the latter being the expansive force of 
water under the application of heat. And as these 
two are the greatest, so they are the most enduring 
powers ; they will last until the rains cease to fall 
| from the clouds, until the forests are hewn from 
| the mountains, and the treasures of coal are all dug 
| from the depths of the earth. 

Of the three great departments of labor which 
occupy the material industry of the race—agricul- 
ture, commerce, and manufactures—we have seen 
how the first two depend on the ocean, the one for 


22 


the rains which support all vegetable life, the other 
for the thousand paths on which its fleets are travel- 
ing. We now find that the third one also, though 

at first appearing to have no very intimate connec- 
tion with the ocean, does, in fact, owe to it almost 
the whole of its efficiency. Ninety-nine hundredths 
of all the mechanical power now at work in the 
world is furnished by the water-wheel and the 
steam-engine. Ninety-nine hundredths, therefore, 
of all the manufacture of the world is wrought by 
the sea. The ocean is not that idle creature which - 
it seems, with its vast and lazy length stretched 
between the continents, with its huge bulk sleep- 
ing along the shore, or tumbling in aimless fury 
from pole to pole. It is a giant, who leaves his 
oozy bed and comes up upon the land to spend 
his strength in the service of man. With power 
enough to carry off the gates of the continents, 
and to dash the pillars of the globe in pieces, he 
allows his captors to chain him in prisons of stone 
and iron, to bind his shoulders to the wheel, and 
set him to grind the food of the nations and weave 
the garments of the world. The mighty shaft 
which that wheel turns, runs out into all the lands ; 
and geared and belted to that center of power, ten 
thousand times ten thousand clanking engines roll 
their cylinders, and ply their hammers, and drive 
their million shuttles, till the solid planet shakes 
with the concussion, and the sky itself is deafened 
with the roar. It is the sea that keeps all your 
mills and factories in motion. It is the sea that 


spins your thread and weaves your cloth. It is 
the sea that cuts your iron bars like wax, rolls 


them out into paper thinness, or piles them up in 
the solid shaft strong enough to be the pivot of a 
revolving planet. It is the sea that tunnels the 
mountain and bores the mine, and lifts the coal 
from its sunless depths and the ore from its rocky 
bed. It is the sea that lays the iron track, that 
builds the iron horse, that fills his nostrils with 
fiery breath, and sends his tireless hoofs thundering 
across the longitudes. It is the sea that fashions 
the leviathan ship, forges its thousand plates, drives 
its million bolts, pushes its reluctant bulk from the 
stocks, like a floating island broken from the main- 
land, and sends it from shore to shore, a nation on 
its decks, a continent in its sides, and the arms of 
ten thousand Titans heaving the vast machinery in 
its bosom. In short, it is the power of the sea 
which is doing for man all those mightiest works 
that would be else impossible. It is by this that 
he is to level the mountains, to tame the wilderness, 
to subdue the continents, to throw his pathways 
around the globe, and make his nearest approaches 
to omnipresence and omnipotence. If the ocean 
were to be dried up, the right arm of his power 
would be withered; the wheels of all progress 
would stop, and the wave of civilization would in- 
stantly roll back a whole century. No earthly 
force or combination of forces now known could 
supply a ten-thousandth part of the deficiency. 
Man’s greatest strength lies in that weakest of all 


known substances—water. The sinews of the 


world are laid in the sea, and the tides and billows — 


of its ever restless surface are but the swell and 
play of those mighty muscles that could tear the 
continents from their roots and hurl the mountains: 
from one pole to the other. . 

6. <A sixth office of the sea is so be a vast 
storehouse of life. We have considered the ocean, 
hitherto, as ministering to the life that exists on 
the land, giving sustenance and strength to plants, 
animals, and men. But it does something more. 
The objects of its ministry do not thus lie, all of 
them, out of its own boundaries. The sea has a 
whole world of life in itself. It spreads its table 
first of all, for its own children, and these other 
gifts which it makes to the lands, royal and munifi- 


cent as they are, are but the superfluities and 
remainders that are left from its table and ward-— 


robe, after all its own inhabitants are housed and 


nourished, and clothed and fed. It is said that — 


the life in the sea far exceeds all that exists out of 
it. There are more than twenty-five thousand dis- 
tinct species of living beings that inhabit its waters. 


There are more than eight thousand species of fish, — 


‘ 


a 


and some of these swarm in such innumerable — 


millions, that often they ‘*‘ move in columns that 
are several leagues in width and many fathoms 
thick; and this vast stream of life continues to 
move past the same given point for whole months 
together. Incredible numbers of them are taken 
from the sea; in Norway four hundred millions of 


25 


a single species ina single season; in Sweden, 
seven hundred millions; and by other nations, 
numbers without number.” But those that are 
taken bear only a small proportion to those that 
remain of the very same species, while the whole 
of these species themselves are but a fraction of 
the entire population of the larger marine lite ; and 
this entire population of larger life, again, is but a 
drop of the bucket compared to the various forms 
of microscopic and animalcular life with which 


“immense tracts of the ocean are filled. -These 


animaleules are some of them so small that it 
would take forty thousand of them to measure an 
inch in length, and so clesely crowded together 
that a large drop of water contains five hundred 
millions ; that is, half as many as there are human 
inhabitants on the whole globe. 

It is not necessary to ask whether all this infini- 
tude of life is meant for the use of man, or wheth- 
er it has anything whatever to do in promoting his 
comfort or providing his food. It is certain that 
many of the larger forms of marine life are intend- 


ed for his benefit, and are fitted for his use. Whole 


tribes of men derive almost their entire sustenance 
from the sea. The inhabitants of the polar reigons 


draw their support more from this source than 


irom all others combined. ‘The same is true of 
the savage tribes on many of the islands of the 
Pacific, and along some of the shores of the con- 
tinents. Even civilized lands levy immense con-+ 
tributions on the life of the sea. Many thousands 


of vessels are employed in taking fish of various 
kinds from its waters, and uncounted millions of 
them are sent into every part of the world; so 
that the sea is full of God’s riches, if we consider 
it only as a vast storehouse of food for man. 

But all the life of the sea does not need to be 
designed for man in order to explain its use. Life 


is its own use ; and wherever it exists, and in pro- 


portion as it exists, it is, in itself considered, the 
proof and illustration of the goodness of God. It 
is one of the noble uses of the sea, therefore, that 
it furnishes the dwelling-place for such an incon- 
ceivable immensity of life. It is even more full of 
God’s goodness than it is of his power; for while 
the latter requires larger masses for its exhibition, 
the former is best seen by examining the minutest 
portion. Nothing is more powerless than a single 
drop of water; and yet, by placing this single 
drop under the microscope, we discover the charac- 
ter of vast masses of the ocean, and learn that in 
every one of these little globes of inhabited sea- 
water there is literally a whole continent of happy 
beings that draw their existence from God, wait 
upon him for food, and receive their daily suste- 
nance at his hand. 

7. The last use of the sea which I shall men- 
tion, is what may be called the geological one. I 
mention it last, and as the culminating view, 
because it brings into sight the impressive element 


of time, and sends us back to that gigantic history — 
of the past when the forces of the sea, which are 


27 


yw in comparatively feeble play, were set to their 
Titanic task, and wrought out those stupendous 
results which belong to the very framework of 
Nature itself, and which will endure till the very 
_ substance of the globe is dissolved. God has 
_ appointed the sea to be the architect of the world. 
_ It has quarried the materials and brought them to 
| their place, and then with its building tool and 
| dressing hammer it has given them shape, and plied 
them, layer above layer, for the walls of the great 
house of life. 
_ There is the clearest evidence that every part of 
the known earth has been, successfully and for 
| unnumbered ages, under the dominion of the sea. 
_ When the cooling crust of the globe had become 
| one unbroken sphere of granite rock, then the 
_ waters were let in upon it by Jehovah’s hand to 
_ join with fire and frost and moving ice, and all the 
_ forces of the volcano and the earthquake, in tearing 
} asunder this quarry of the continents—disintegra- 
ting, grinding, pulverizing and sifting, till the 


| sands and limes and clays and various earths were 
‘separated from their rocky prison, assorted each 
after its kind, carried a thousand miles by mighty 
- currents, spread out over the bottom of the deep, 
cemented firmly in their place by pressure, heat, 
and inward chemistry, piled story above story, till 
they were many thousands and many ten-thousands 
of feet in thickness ; and so the great house of the 
a world being built and finished and furnished be- 
| neath the sea, with endless stores of all things 


needful,—coal, and iron, and vials aa OPER , i 


and gold,—it felt the uplifting hand of God, and 

rose into the sky, parting the ocean from pole to 
pole, a mighty continent, with mountain, and yal- 
ley, and river and plain, soon green and golden, 
from side to side, with grass and grain, and forest 
and flower ; a house not made with hands, high as 
the heavens, deep as the centre, wide as the firma- 
ment, bright as the light; a glorious habitation, 
waiting for the footstep, the eye, and the yoice of 
its great coming master—iman. 

Having thus considered some of the material 
uses by which the sea proclaims the wisdom and 
goodness of its Maker, let us notice one or two of 
those qualities by which it more directly suggests 
his being, and brings nearer to us the sense of his 
presence and power. 

“The sea is Ais,” says the Psalmist; and we 
may take the emphasis of that assertion as if it 
meant that in some sense he claims exclusive pos- 
session of the sea; that he gaye the land to man, 
but in a manner reserved the ocean as his own do- 
main. And itisso. Man’s dominion is the solid 
land. There he rears his habitations, hews down 
the forests, upturns the hills, fills the valleys, 
spreads his waving harvests, lays his roads of stone 
and iron like net-work across a whole continent, 
plans cities that last for thousands of years, changes 
the face of Nature herself so that she can never 
regain the lost expression, and when he dies builds 
monuments over his dust of such magnitude that 


29 


| they might be seen from another planet, and of 


such endurance that they defy all the ravages of 


time, and live till the globe itself is consumed. 


And this is the impression which is made upon 


_ the traveler, whether in the Old World or in the 


_ New: that the land is given to man; that it is 


i 


_ possessed by man; and that wherever he goes, 


there is something which speaks to him of man. 
In the older continent, the vast cities, the unnum- 
bered populations, the immeasurable culture, the 
mighty ruins, everything testifies of man; almost 
everything which the eye can see has felt his 
power, and shows upon itself the mark of his 
hand. Almost every particle of that ancient dust 
has been trodden by his foot, and been tributary 
to his lite. And as the Old World speaks of man, 
and tells where he has been, so the New World 
speaks of him, and tells where he shall be. In 
the forests of the Mississippi, a thousand miles be- 


_ yond the outmost cities, the sound of the axe and 


the gun declare that the all-conquering wave of 
civilization is coming; and a thousand miles fur- 
ther on, where even these prophetic sounds have 
not been heard, there is that which speaks of 


_ human approach. The stillness which is there is 
the stillness of fear, and not of security. It tells 


that man is coming. The very silence is full of 
his name. The trees whisper it to one another. 
The fox and the panther utter it in theircry. The 


_ winds take up the secret, and give it to the hills, 


and these to the echoing vales. The fountains 


publish it to the brooks, and the brooks to the riy- 
ers, and the rivers spead it a thousand miles along 
their banks, and proclaim it at last to the north- 
ern seas—that man, the conqueror and king, is 
coming; that his footsteps has been heard on the | 
Atlantic shore ; that the hills await him; that the 
vales expect him; that the forests bend their tre- 
mulous tops to listen for him ; that the fear of him 
is upon the beasts of the wood, the fowl of the 
mountain, the cattle of a thousand hills; upon all 
rivers and plains, upon all quarries of rock and 
mines of precious ore; for all that is within the 
compass of the land is given to his dominion, and 
he shall subdue its strength and appropriate its 
treasure, and scatter the refuse of it as the dust 
beneath his feet. 

But there man’s empire stops. God has given 
the land to man, but the sea he has reserved to 
himself: “the sea is Azs, and he made it.” He 
has given man “no inheritance in it; no, not so 
much as to set his foot on.” If he enters its domain, 
he enters it as a pilgrim and a stranger. He may 
pass over it, but he can have no abiding place upon 
it. He cannot build his house, nor so much as 
put up his tent within it. He cannot mark it 
with his lines, nor subdue it to his uses, nor 
rear his monuments upon it. If he has done 
any brilliant exploit upon its surface, he can- 
not perpetuate the memory of it by erecting so 
much as anarch ora pillar. It steadfastly refuses 
to own him as its lord and master. It is not 


31 


afraid of him, as is the land. Its depths do not 
tremble at his coming. Its waters do not flee when 
he appeareth. When it hears of him, then it laughs 
him to scorn. All the strength of all his genera- 
tions is to it as a feather before the whirlwind, and 
all the noise of his commerce and all the thunder 
of his navies it can hush in a moment within the 
silence of its impenetrable abysses. Whole armies 
have gone down into that unfathomable darkness, 
and not a floating bubble marks the place of their 
disappearing. If all the populations of the-world, 
from the beginning or time, were cast into its 
depths, the smooth service of its oblivion would 
close over them in an hour; and if all the cities of 
the earth, and all the structures and monuments 
that were ever reared by man, were heaped together 
over that grave for a tombstone, it could not break 
the surface of the deep, and lift back their memory 
to the light of the sun and the breath of the upper 
air; the sea would still clap his hands in triumph 
over them, and roll the billows of his derision a 
thousand fathoms above the topmost stone of that 
mighty sepulchre. The patient earth submits to 
the rule of man, and the mountains bow their rocky 
heads before the hammer of his power and the blast 
of his terrible enginery. But the sea cares not for 
him; not so much as a single hair’s breadth can 
its level be lowered or lifted by all the art, and all 
the effort, and all the enginery of all the genera- 
tions of time. The land tells of man because his 
foot prints are there, and his marks and monuments 


32 


are on every side. But the sea does not tell of 
him, for he can build no monuments upon its 
domain. Though he trayel a thousand years upon 
the same path, he leaves upon it no foot-print to 
tell where he has been. Nor can he, with all his ° 
skill, fix upon it any mark of ownership. It stead- 
fastly refuses to receive any impression or keep any 
memorial of him. He comes and goes upon it, and 
a moment after, it is as if he had never been there. 
He may engrave his titles upon the mountain top, 
and quarry his signature into the foundations of 
the globe; but he cannot write his name on the 
sea. 

And with this is connected that other feature of 
the sea which marks its reservation to God : I mean 
its loneliness. One who has never travelled upon 
it expects to find it somewhat thickly populated. 


He thinks of the vast traffic and trayel that goes 
over the waters, and he is ready to imagine that the 
great deep is alive with this hurrying to and fro 
of the nations. He reads of the lands “whose 


commerce whitens every sea,” and he is ready to 
think that the ocean itself is as full of sails as the 
harbor of some mighty metropolis. Buyt he finds 
his mistake. As he leaves the land the ships begin 
to disappear. As he goes on his way they soon all 
vanish, and there is nothing about him but the 
round sea and the bended sky. Sometimes he may 
meet or overtake a solitary ship during the day ; 
but then, again, there will be many days when not 
a single sail will cross the horizon. The captain 


ah 
A 33 

we Adriatic told us that he had repeatedly made 
‘oyages across the Atlantic and not seen a single 
_ ship between soundings. We asked him if it was 
on the ordinary line of travel. He replied it was 
on the ereat highway of commerce between the two 
q hemispheres. When we reflect that all the tray- 
_ elling that is done upon the seas is confined to a 
"| very few paths, and that those paths cover but an 
| infinitesimal part of the whole surface of the ocean, 
this loneliness of the sea becomes astonishing and 


~ 


overwhelming. There are spaces measured by 
| = thousands and thousands of miles, over which no 
|| ship has ever passed. The idea of a nation’s com- 
| merce whitening every sea, is the wildest fancy. 
If all the ships that have ever been built were 
| brought together into a single fleet, they would fill 
' but a handbreadth of the ocean. The space, there- 
|| fore, that man and his works occupy on the sea, is 
[| as small in extent as the hold he has on it by his 
power is slight and superficial. Both together are 
as nothing. Both together must always be as 
Lf nothing. The ocean covers three-fourths of the 
|| surface of the globe, and by far the greatest part 
|| of this vast expanse is and ever has been entirely 
| free from his presence and visitation. 
| _—_ And it is this vastness, this loneliness, and this 
|| impossibility of subjugation by man, that set it 
| apart from the secular aspect that belongs to the 
rest of the world, and consecrate it as the peculiar 
q possession and dwelling-place of the Most High. 
|| Like some vast builded temple, it perpetually 


speaks of him and for him. It bodies forth 
immensity. It represents eternity. Girded round | 
all the lands, as death is girded around all life, it — 
seems to bring the unseen world to our vision, and 
to sound and shine with the glory and the awful- 
ness of that state which is beyond the grave. 
Travelling out into its vastness, we seem to be 
moving beyond the boundaries of space and time. 
Sailing on, day after day, without any apparent 
progress, never reaching the horizon that is before, 
never leaving the horizon that is behind, it is as if — | 
we had lost all connection with the earth which we 
inhabit, and were voyaging upon the infinite ex- 
panse of the skies, travelling to some world that 
lies beyond the stars of heaven. The strangeness — 
of this sensation becomes perplexing and oppres- 
sive. It is almost as if we had quitted life itself, 
and the wings of eternity had taken our sails and 
were blowing us over the sea of death towards the 
throne of God and the bar of the judgment. <A 
feeling of the supernatural begins to steal upon us. 
Familiar sights and sounds take on a weird and 
mystical significance. We look at one another, 
and in our reverie wonder if we are not already 
disembodied spirits. We look at the ship, and 
wonder if some unseen hands are not grasping its 
keel, holding it to its course, and lifting it from 
billow to billow. We look at the engines, and 
wonder if they are not akind of archangels of the , 
deep, prisoned to their task, and bowing to one — 
another with some secret intelligence as they lay — 


~ their mighty shoulders to the wheels and push the 


. 


} 


_ trembling vessel along its path. We look at the 
~ sun, and it seems to shake its beams upon us with 
anew and strange significance. We look at the 
stars by night, and they seem to be nearer to us, 
and to be gazing upon us with longing eyes, and 
with a more fixed and solemn earnestness. We 
look at the track of the ship, and it is a wake of 
sparkling fires, as if our bark had left at length the 
seas of earth behind it, and were sailing over the 
‘ocean of the firmament. We have forgotten time ; 
we are thinking of eternity. We have forgotten 
man; we are thinking of God. The bondage of 
the senses is dissolved, and the things that are 
beyond them come breaking into our being. The 
earth which we have left behind us seems as far 
away as if it were another planet, and the themes 
that used to lie beyond the planets find easy en- 
trance to our thoughts, and rule us with a strange 
and sudden dominion. ‘The petty interests that 
engrosseil us a while ago are_ shrunk to nothing- 
ness. The eagerness of anticipation, the excite- 
ment of departure are all forgotten, as the departed 


soul forgets the pain, the restlessness, and the fear 
of the dying-bed, when the shores of a receding 
world fade out of its sight, and the strange calm 
of that vast new ocean of life over which it is sail- 
ing, takes possession of its consciousness. We 
are alone with God. We are walking in his tem- 
| ple, and it would scarcely surprise us if we should 
see him riding upon the clouds, or descending upon 


the deep, and moving towne us in 
the waters.. ae 
In speaking thus of God’s preseane on ieee a 
do not mean to imply that he is not also on the land, 
or that the earth does not contain abundant indica- ‘ 
tions of his presence. I only speak of those things’ 
which mark the ocean as in some respects the place ~ 
of his peculiar dwelling and the sphere of his spe- 
cial manifestation. We know that the earth is full © 
of his works; that his footprints are upon every 
plain and mountain, the mark of his fingers on all 


its fields and forests and streams. Yet we cannot 
help saying and feeling that his dwelling-place is ~ 
in the heavens, because of its vastness, its omni- 
presence, and its separation from man. We in- 
voluntarily look up to the sky when we refer to 
him. We point thither when we would indicate 
his residence ; as if, though the earth is his foot- 
stool, and the place where his works are wrought, 
still the heavens were his habitation, and tees ig 
had his throne and peculiar dwelling. So, in 
lesser measure, is it with the sea. Its vastness, 
its omnipresence, and its separation from the pres- 
ence and power of man, set it apart as the symbol — 
of God, the temple of his abode, and the place of 
his special manifestation. It is to the land which 
it embosoms what the sky is to the whole Cae 
which it encircles: it is a sky beneath the sky, 
touching the earth with a more solid grasp than — 
that, and surrounding it with a more palpable fir-— 
mament. And as the sky would have a vaster — 


7 
- 
“ 
E 


37 


mystery if we could sail over it as we sail upon the 
sea, so the sea has a vaster mystery because we 
can sail over it and find it a more palpable sky, 
only with its arch inverted and its firmament under 
our feet. The sky is distant, but the sea is near. 


_ We can walk down to the shore and lay our hand 


upon its waters ; and when we do so, we feel as if 
we touched the feet of Jehovah; as if we saw the 
very fields of immensity and eternity, and held 
within our grasp the lines that bound us to another 
life. And it is this which gives the sea its mystery 
and might, that it is fraught with these divine ele- 
ments; that it is charged with these spiritual 
suggestions ; that it is the symbol of eternity and 
infinity, and crowds upon us, with irresistible 
majesty, the vision of that life unseen, and those 
worlds unknown, for which our souls are made, 
and to which the feet of every one of us are swiftly 
and irreversibly travelling. There is a sea witkin 
us which responds to the sea without. Deep calleth 
unto deep, and it is the answer and the yearning 
of these inward waves, in reply to that outward 
eall, which makes our hearts to swell, our eyes to 
grow dim with tears, and our whole being to lift 
and vibrate with such strong emotion when we 


stand upon the shore and look out upon the deep, 


or sit in the stern of some noble ship and feel our- 
selves cradled on the pulsations of its mighty 
bosom. ‘There is a life within us which calls to 
that sea without—a conscious destiny which only 


its magnitude and 7fs motion can symbolize and 
4 


ph, 


38 


utter. There is that in man which draws him to 
the sea by some secret spell, whose attraction he 
cannot resist or master. - There is a deep, eternal 
brotherhood between him and the rolling ocean. 
Though it scorns his power, and will not take his” 
chain nor bear his handwriting, nor even his very 
presence except as a pilgrim and stranger, it still 
links itself to him by ties that are stronger than 
steel, and that draw him towards it from eities and 
forests, from the tops of mountains and the depths 
of midland deserts. Though he have never looked 
upon it, and dwells thousands of miles away from 
it, still itis a reality, a presence, and a power unto 
him. Ue thinks of it by day; he dreams of it by 
night. In his imagination he fashions its shores, 
pours its mighty tides around the land, stretches 
its azure expanse like the sky, pushes his bark 
upon its waves, loosens the winds upon its sound- . 
ing billows, and sweeps out from the fading head- 
lands to lose himself in the dread immensity, and 
find himself alone with the sea and its Maker. 

Hence, in a season of calm weather, 

Though inland far we be, 

Our souls have sight of that immortal sea 

Which brought us hither; 

Can in a moment travel thither, 

And see the children sport upon the shore, 

And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. 
And as the sea, which thus speaks to man, repels 
and draws him, stirring his inmost being with the 
urgency of these mighty contradictions, so it is | 


with that God whom the sea declares, whose pavil- . | 


39 


‘is upon its floods, whose chariot rides upon 
waves, and the beams of whose chambers are 
laid upon its waters. Between him and fallen 
_ man there is a repulsion and an attraction which 
rests on a far deeper basis, and stirs the soul with 
_ the sense of a far profounder contradiction. Need- 
ing him and yet fearing him, drawn by his infinite 
goodness and driven back again by. his infinite holi- 
_ ness, man alternately flies toward him, and flees 
_ from him ; until, these conflicting forces that play 
between the creature and the Creator being recon- 
 ciled at the cross of Christ, they flow together, sea 

_ to sea and soul to soul, and the joy of their union 

is like the gladness of the waters when the ocean 
- receives to its bosom the streams of the world, 

and the noise of their jubilee rolls round the 
globe. 

And so, by its material uses and its spiritual 
voices, does the sea ever speak to us to tell us that 
- its builder and maker is God. He hewed its 
| channels in the deep, and drew its barriers upon 
| the sand, and cast its belted waters around the 
world. He fitted it to the earth and the sky, and 
_ poised them skilfully the one against the other, 
| when he ‘“ measured the waters in the hollow of 

his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, 

— and comprehended the dust of the earth in a meas- 

ure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the 

hills in a balance.” He gave the sea it wonderful 

laws, and armed it with its wonderful powers, and 
_ set it upon its wonderful work. 


| 


| 
|) 
| 

9 

f 

. 


40 sgh th es Poet 


O’er all its breadth his wisdom walks, : 
On all his waves his goodness shines. - 


Let us give thanks, therefore, for the sea. Let 


us remember him that gave it such vast dominion, 
and made it to be not only the dwelling-place of 
his awful presence, but the beautiful garment of 
his love and the mighty instrument of his good- 
ness. Let it speak to us of his unfathomable 
fulness. Let it teach us that he has made nothing 
in vain. Let it remind us that the powers of 
destruction and death are under his control, and 
that behind the cloud of darkness and terror that 
often invests them, they are working out immeas- 
urable results of blessing and life for the future 
time, for distant regions, and for coming genera- 
tions. Let it lead us to confide in him who 
‘‘ruleth the raging of the seas, who stilleth the 
noise of their waves and the tumult of the peo- 
ple ;” who has all the forces of the world at his 
control, and all the ages of time at his command ; 
who knows how to build his kingdom beneath the 
sea of human opposition, as he built the continents 
beneath the ocean waters; who makes all the 
powers of dislocation and decay yield to that king- 
dom some element of strength or richness; and 


who, when the appointed hour shall come, will lift 


it irresistibly above the waves, and set its finished 
beauty beneath the heavens, with the spoils of all 


time gathered upon its walls, and the nations of — 


the saved walking in its glory. 


SERMON 
PREACHED AT THE OPENING 
OF THE 


GENERAL CONVENTION 


OF THE 


« 


Wrotestaut Zpiscopal Churey, 


PHILADELPHIA, 


September 5, 1838. 


a 
a 


BY THE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM MEADE, D. D. 


ASSISTANT BISHOP OF VIRGINIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
Episcopal Recorder Press. 
WILLIAM STAVELY, PRINTER. 


. 1838. 


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SERMON. 


Tuts saira tur Lorn, Sranp YE IN THE WAYS, AND SEZ, AND ASK 
FOR THE OLD PATHS, WHERE IS THE GOOD WAY, AND WALK THEREIN, AND 
¥E SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR souLs.—Jer, vi. 16. 


Meruinxs I hear some one say, could the preacher of this 
day find no other, save this old and hackneyed text, this text 
so often and confidently quoted by the bigot, who sees his own 
church and tenets in almost every line of holy writ and every 
practice of primitive times? Could he come before us with 
no other words but these, so for ever in the mouth of the old 
man who loves to upbraid the present generation, and to 
boast of the glory of former days ? 

And because our text may have been often used and 
sometimes abused, is there no virtue left in it; must it be 
laid aside for ever? God forbid! We know that there 
is a spirit of complaining in man which often misapplies 
the text, that the old man fondly referring to the days of 
his youth will sigh for their return as though they were the 
days of Eden’s purity and bliss. ‘The preacher has..often 
heard such language from the lips of the aged .concern- 
ing a period and condition of the church in his native state, 
over whose disgrace it became the pious rather to mourn and 
weep. Often has he been tempted to reply unto such in the 
words of the wise man, “ Say not thou what is the cause that 
the former times were better than these, for thou dost not 
inquire wisely concerning this thing.” 

Old ways are not necessarily good ways. Many old 
things ought to pass away for ever and be forgotten, or 
only remembered with grief and shame. All other things. 
being equal, however, old things should be preferred to 
the new. Although old age standeth not in length of years, 
wisdom being the grey hair to man, and an unspotted life 
old age; yet when wisdom, an unspotted life and grey hairs 
are found together, how lovely and venerable the sight. 
So with old paths when worn by the footsteps of saints 


+ 


and leading to heaven, how holy and blessed are they! 
How sweet the rest to which they lead! Such were 
the old paths mentioned in the text, and which cannot be too 
often pointed out to successive generations of travellers to eter- 
nity. Think not then of my text as the oft-used saying of 
some bigot (o his sect, or of some querulous old man; but re- 
member its first words. What are they? ‘Thus saith the 
Lord. What doth the Lord say? Stand ye in the ways, 
that is, the many doubtful ways of blind bewildered man, and 
ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and ye shall 
find rest for your souls. It is God, not man, that speaks; and 
so long as individuals, churches and nations are prone to for- 
sake the paths in which the Lord once led them, so long is 
there use for the text. Whenever they do depart from the 
same, wandering into strange paths, it is the duty of God’s mi- 
nisters to bid them inquire for the old paths and walk therein ; 
or even when there may be no special cause for rebuke it is 
good to stir up pure minds by way of remembrance of the old 
paths. 

Let us inquire then into the true meaning of our text, for 
we do not wish to make it suit the purposes of a party, or 
bend and accommodate it to some favourite but less important 
and perhaps disputed peculiarities of achurch. Perhaps one 
might say, what are these old paths but the statutes and or- 
dinances of the Lord which are on record? What have we 
to do but go to the law and testimony? “ 'The Bible, the Bible 
alone is the religion of Protestants,” and of that must we in- 
quire for the old paths. 

Our text unquestionably pays the first and highest honour 


‘to that holy volume ; but if I mistake not, it also refers to the 


doctrines and precepts of the same as understood and prac- 
tised by those in whom the Spirit of the Lord was, and whose 


- ways are held up to the imitation of successive generations. 


We all know that while the tongue may persuade, it is the 
life which commands ; and therefore God has graciously given 
us. bright examples of holiness to illumine and smooth our path 
to heaven. Is there not something most cheering and strength- 
ening to the heart in the thought and assurance, that the wise 
and pious have understood and practised the religion of the 


5 


Bible in the very same way in the best ages and purest states 
of the church of God, so that we have not only the Bible in its 
letter, but the plainest and most practical exhibitions of its 
spirit in the lives of the righteous, that we have some fixed 
standards for our faith, and worship, and conduct. In this 
present age. especially, there is much comfort to the mind of 
the preacher in the thought, that there are some old and sure 
paths towards heaven in which we may walk with certainty, 
and that we have not to strike out into any new, untried, and 
as some think, nearer ones. ‘This is an age of discovery, of 
great enterprise, and ofsome high improvements. No bounds 
are set to theefforts and expectations of man whose motto is, 
‘‘ attempt great things, expect great things.” There is some- 
thing in the human mind which still says, “we shall be as 
gods ;”’ we can and we will scale the heavens; we can and 
will draw near to the distant planets, by signs at least we may 
hold converse with their inhabitants; we will think it no rob- 
bery to seize upon some of the attributes of Deity, and by the 
exercise ofour sovereign will invest the sleeper with more than 
an archangel’s wing and vision ; and what shall be kept from us, 
seeing that we soar already far above proud Babel’s highest 
pinnacle. I remember that three years since, at the close of 
our last General Convention, a communication appeared in our 
public papers announcing with all the forms of sincerity and 
truth, that a celebrated astronomer of the old world had by 
means of an instrument of mighty power made a near ap- 
proach to the moon ; that he had clearly seen not merely 
mountains, seas and lakes, but temples and private houses, 
the worshippers and the inhabitants, clearly discerning their 
different pursuits. That such a thing should be written in 
this age of fraud and fiction is not surprising, but that it 
should be received so readily as it was by great numbers was 
indeed to be regretted, and is only to be accounted for by the 
fact that there is a general, and deep, and unwarranted im- 
pression upon many minds of analmost unlimited expansion of | 
the powers of man, and advancement in the knowledge of 
things hitherto unknown. ‘That very great improvements and 
discoveries in the arts and sciences have been made, and may 
yet be made, we admit and are pleased to admit. We hear- 


6 


tily rejoice in them as sure proofs of the high susceptibilities 
of our nature, and because they strengthen our faith in those 
wonderful things yet to come in a future state, which eye hath 
not seen, ear hath not heard, and the heart never conceived. 
Fven though some of these speculations and anticipations be 
carried to an extravagant height still they are comparatively 
harmless. We may not merely disregard the winds and waves, 
and taking a direct course over the wide Atlantic, by the mighty 
power of steam reach the shores of England in a few short 
days and nights, but we may delight ourselves before-hand in 
the thought (so confidently encouraged by a philosopher of 
the day) that ere long missionaries and bibles in ample abun- 
dance will ascend the regions of air, and on the swift wings 
of the wind, in safe erial arks, sail over Christian lands and 
alight, as so many angels from heaven, amongst the inhabit- 
ants of Thibet and 'Tartary, China and Hindostan. These, 
and such as these, we can and do read and hear, and smile 
at the same, and wish the prophets, “in their fine frenzy 
rolling,” more than the fulfilment of all their rial visions. 
But there is something, Christian brethren, which we cannot 
and will not, because we ought not, thus read and hear, 
smiling at the same. When we read and hear, as sometimes 
we are forced to do, that as in arts and sciences, so also in 
our blessed religion—the whole hope of our immortal souls for 
ever—discoveries are yet to be made, of which the wisest and 
best in the kingdom of God have been utterly ignorant; that 
the true sense of scripture has been but little elicited; that 
the Bible is comparatively a sealed book, or our eyes yet un- 
opened, I confess my heart sinks within me, and I ask, Is 
this the highway to heaven, once so plain that wayfaring men, 
though fools, need not err therein? Is this that blessed Gospel 
which was preached to the poor, and concealed, as it were, 
from the wise and prudent, because in the pride of their 
hearts they despised a thing so simple, so suited to babes? I 
grant that the revelation of Divine truth has been by gradual 
developments in successive dispensations, rising like the sun 
and shining more and more unto the perfect day. But did 
not the darkness pass away and the true light come in him 
who brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel? Are 


7 


not Christians the children of the light and the day? Where 
is the intimation of some new dispensation of more glorious 
light on this side of heaven ? 

Brethren, this is not a subject for bold or curious specula- 
tion. Let men cultivate the arts and sciences to the utmost— 
let them, if they please, attempt zrial flights—let them make 
all manner of experiments, and imagine all manner of theo- 
ries on every subject under heaven—save one—but when 
they approach that, let them take their shoes from off their 
feet, for the ground is holy. Where God hath spoken let not 
man dream or speculate, but rather humbly hear the plain 
words of heaven, nor imagine that far more is meant than 
has been said. Let not the humble, sincere, and even the in- 
telligent reader of scripture, be now told that he has scarce 
learned any thing as he ought to have jearned. Almost 
as well go back some hundred years and give our faith and 
hope into the keeping of a few clerks and priests, and leave 
unread a book which though for thousands of years the ob- 
ject of anxious study, is yet, it seems, unknown—its mere let- 
ter and surface seen by the eye. 

Brethren, my soul rejoices in the thought that it is not thus 
with us, but that when we enter upon a subject so deeply in- 
teresting to man as that of religion, we can look back and see 
the same old paths in which our fathers walked with God and 
found rest for their souls. O! there is comfort and security 
to the soul in knowing that to us, as to our fathers, is there the 
very same church of the living God—the same old road to 
heaven, though enlarged and beautified and trodden by the 
feet of increasing millions of the saints and pilgrims of the 
Lord. It isa true article of our faith “ that the Old Testa- 
ment is not contrary to the New; for bothin the Old and New 
Testament, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, 
who is the only mediator between God and man, being both 
God and man.” 

To our text then let us turn, endeavouring to find out and 
apply its true meaning; not seeking by force to adapt it to 
some favourite opinions of our own, or peculiar practices of 
the church of our choice, but to use it as God would have us, 
seeking the mind of the Lord, asking for the old paths in which 


8 


the Lord led his people and in which his people loved to walk 
and be perfect before him. 

And can there be any doubt or difficulty in this? What 
were these old paths but those in which Adam, ere he fell, 
and righteous Abel, and holy Enoch, and the sons of God with 
faithful Noah, walked, and were perfect in their generations ? 
What were they but the same in which Abraham and Isaac 
and Jacob and Joseph continued to walk, while others were 
departing from the Lord and corrupting their way upon 
earth? What were they but those in which Moses, the man 
of God, and Joshua and Samuel and David and the Prophets 
walked, according to the commandments of the Lord? God 
has never at any time left himself without some faithful wit- 
nesses whom he reserved to illustrate by their holy lives the 
nature of true piety, and to be held up to successive genera- 
tions as examples worthy of imitation. Some precious sea- 
sons of grace, some sweet times of refreshing from the pre- 
sence of the Lord has he always granted to his church, which 
to the true hearted in the midst of their sorrowings have been 
like the green spots to the suffering eye of the traveller on 
the sun-burnt sandy plains of Africa’s wide deserts. Such 
were, doubtless, the days of Enoch and the sons of God, when 
they called upon the name of the Lord, before they married 
with the fair but ungodly daughters of men. Such were the 
days of the Patriarchs after the waters of the deluge had pu- 
rified the earth, until in their madness men began again to 
bid defiance unto heaven. Such were the days of Joshua and 
of those who outlived Joshua, who remembered the mighty 
works of the Lord. How good, under the guidance of the 
text, to look back to the faith and patience and zeal of those 
interesting times, and call upon our souls to follow the foot- 
steps of these saints of the Lord. Though the light which 
shone upon their path was dim, yet it was light from heaven— 
the dawn of our own perfect day—faint rays from the same sun 
of righteousness which now poursits bright mid-day beams up- 
onus. By’ ‘that light they walked uprightly and “ obtained a 
good report,” doing worthy deeds “ by which, though dead, 
they yet speak tous.” They livedas “ pilgrims and sojourners 
upon earth,” going out readily in a spirit of faith at the com- 


9 


mand of God, not knowing whither. One thing was cer- 
tain; they were always looking for a better—that is, an hea- 
venly country—a city that had foundations, whose maker and 
builder was God; and God was not ashamed to be called 
their God. One hesitated not to offer up his own, his only 
son, at God’s command. Another, not caring to be called the 
son of Pharoah’s daughter, chose rather to suffer affliction 
with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for 
a season; having respect to the recompense of reward, he 
esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the trea- 
sures of Egypt. I mention only these few faithful witnesses 
who walled in the old paths. According to the Apostle, there 
was a great cloud of them; numerous were they as the drops 
of water in a great cloud, and by them did he urge Christians 
to run with patience the race that was set before them. But 
are there no other bright examples of godliness, walking in 
old paths and finding rest in the good way? Were it sinning 
against the truth of the text and departing from the allowed 
use of scripture to apply the same to men who have lived 
and things done since the days of the prophet Jeremiah ? Did 
not our Lord and the Apostles often use passages of the Old 
Testament by way of illustration in a sense and for a pur- 
pose not originally designed, so that il is not always very easy 
to perceive when they are used in a spirit of accommodation, 
and when as the fulfilment of actual prophecy? May we not, 
therefore, say of some other blessed periods of the church, 
and some other holy ways thereof, “Inquire ye for the old 
paths and find the good way?” Has no new light been shed 
from heaven since the days of the prophet; no new witnesses 
to the truth been raised up; no more glorious things been 
done for the church of God? Speaking of the days of Jesus 
Christ, and comparing them with the dark and terrific ones 
of the former dispensation, the Apostle says, “ For ye are not 
come unto the mount which might be touched; that burned 
with fire; nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest ; but 
unto Mount Zion; the heavenly Jerusalem ; to an innumera- 
ble company of angels ; tothe general assembly of the church | 
of the first-born which are written in heaven; to Jesus, the 

Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, 

2 


10 


which speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Was there, 
indeed, sucha time to the church of God, when the Lord visited 
it and did glorious things for it; when old things passed away 
and all things became new? Did the children of God walk as the 
children of marvellous light and the sons of a glorious liberty ? 
Was the standard of holiness raised aloft and such things done 
as had never before been seen? Was the church of God then 
a praise to him upon earth and a pattern to be followed in 
after ages? Then surely a minister of God, speaking on such 
an occasion as this, might, even from the words of this ancient 
text, say, Inquire ye for the old paths of Christ and his 
Apostles, and the holy fathers, and walk in the same, and ye 
shall find rest. Yea, more; if at any time the church should 
have lost her first love ; if Satan should have prevailed; butif 
God should have put the spirit of his Apostles into some va- 
liant reformers who should again revive true piety in the 
church; neither would we hesitate to say to their successors, if 
declining in zeal, inquire ye for the old paths of those holy 
and valiant spirits who laid down their lives in the defence of 
the faith once delivered to the saints. 

Permit me then, brethren and friends, assembled together 
in General Convention, after these reasons for choosing the 
text, and these explanations of the same, to detain you for a 
short time, while I refer to some of these old paths of the 
church of God. 

In the first place, rejoicing with you whenever by the grace 
of God we have kept to these paths. 

In the second place, exhorting to a return to those from 
which we may have in any measure departed. 

And, in the third place, warning against certain dangers 
and temptations to which we are exposed at this time and 
which might lead us far away from these old paths. 


I. To show that we are not disposed to follow those 
who think that the former days are always, and in all things, 
better than our own, we will delight to trace a very re- 
markable and pleasing resemblance between the church in 
which we minister at this day and the primitive church, in 
some important and interesting particulars which identify 
them together and make us feel that we are a part of that 


11 


church which was built on the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone. It is 
well known to the Christian world that it was the declared 
and most anxious desire and study of the reformers of our 
church and the framers of our liturgy, to select-from the 
canons, creeds and liturgies of the primitive church, all those 
things relating to faith, discipline and worship, which were 
most conformable to the word of God. Next to the scriptures 
these, though fallible, were the standards to which they re- 
ferred.* They delighted to retain as much as possible of the 
language, order of service, and forms of the primitive church.t 


*TIn a work written by Timothy Puller, D. D., on the moderation of the 
Church of England, we have the following confirmation of the above remark. 
“ Concerning the testimony of the Fathers, the Church of England hath ob- 
served the same wise moderation in her judgment and use of them also; no 
where judging of them as unliable to error, according to the arguing of the 21st 
article. Because they are but men, and sometimes have erred in things per- 
taining to God; neither hath our church any where swallowed their errors, 
through the veneration of their piety and antiquity. Yet, because of their 
proximity to the apostolic times and the just authority in the church, which 
for their learning and piety they have obtained, and all along hath been given 
them, our church in her monuments gives a great deference to their judgment, 
testimony and practice. Thus in the 3lst canon it is written, “ Forasmuch 
as the ancient fathers of the church, led by the example of the apostles, ap- 
pointed, etc.—we, following their holy and religious example, do constitute 
and decree—and again, canon 32, according to the judgment of the ancient 
fathers and the practice of the primitive church, we do ordain. And again, 
in canon 60—forasmuch as it hath been a solemn, ancient, and laudable cus- 
tom in the church of God, continued from the apostles times, that, etc.—we 
therefore will and appoint, etc. In king Edward the Sixth’s proclamation, be- 
fore the Common Prayer Book, the reason for our forms and rites is justified 
from the practice of the primitive church, and in the preface concerning the 
service of the church. Here you have an order for prayer and reading the 
holy scripture much agreeable to the mind and purpose of the old fathers. 
And in many other places where they are named, and where they are not 
named, the footsteps of their ancient piety have very discernible impressions 
throughout the whole constitution of the church. Wherefore, he says, “ Let 
such authority and reverence be continued to the ancient and orthodox fathers, 
as may be subject to the determination, truth and authority of the holy scrip- 
tures. For always the ancient fathers themselves refused any other kind of 
honour or respect, frequently admonishing the reader, that be admits their 
opinions or interpretation but as far as he sees them agree with the holy 
writings.” 

} Neither is there any impropriety in the language of our worship, only as 
language, which is the clothing of our thoughts, must of course wear old, as 
doth a garment, so, as a garment, some words and phrases of ancient usage 
have been changed into terms suitable to the language of the present time. 
Now this is no proof of impropriety in the sense, which is not itself changed, 
but only clothed anew. However, this alteration hath and must always hap- 
pen even to the word of God, the holy Bible, which, through the variations 
of language is forced, age after age, to get into new translations, as into new 


oo 12 


They wisely judged it to be a safe course to copy from those 
holy, resolute, devoted, heavenly-minded men, who lived 
nearest to the times of our Lord and his Apostles, who labour- 
ed in the same field on which they toiled, carried on the same 
work which they begun, and heard from the lips of the disci- 
ples those things which our Lord spake concerning his king- 
dom, during the last forty days and nights which he spent 
upon earth. No wonder, then, that there should be so remark- 
able a coincidence in many things of worship, doctrine, and 
discipline, and that our church should be endeared to the 
hearts of all who are able to trace the similitude by its nu- 
merous expressions, petitions, forms and usages which have 
come down to us almost unchanged from such high and holy 
antiquity. 

Where shall I begin with my congratulations on this sub- 
ject? Shall I speak of the resemblance in all important points 
between our church polity and that of primitive and apostolic 
times? What need is there, seeing that so many public ser- 
mons make mention of it—that so many tracts and volumes 
trace it out, and that there is but one sentiment among us on 
the subject? Who but reads in scripture and other books, of 
the “divers orders of ministers” in God’s ancient church ? 
Who does not meet with the same in the Christian church, 
established by our Lord and the Apostles, transmitted to the 
fathers, and continued in unbroken succession to the present 
day? In this old path our church has always trodden and 
found rest therein. 

Shall I speak of our unity in faith and doctrine with the 
primitive church? How can we differ, seeing that we use the 
same creeds which formed an important part of their regular 


raiment, to preserve itself from the derision, from the cruel mockings of the 
scorner. For the same reason and by the same steps as the Bible,our liturgy 
hath reformed its language, “for the more perfect rendering (as the church 
alleges) not only such portions of holy scripture as are inserted into it, but 
also such other passages, which, through the decays of time became obsolete, 
or of doubtful signification,” and.so liable to scorn and misconstruction. Not 
but the old language is well retained at the altar, being venerable for its age, 
as these who wait at it are for their grey hairs: ancient language and ancient 
men, if they offend not through decay, give a reverence and dignity to that 
solemn work.— Bisse’s Beauty of Holiness in the Book af Common Prayer, 
p. 16, 


13 


service. How many millions of God’s saints have, in the very 
same words, solemnly uttered their belief in all the great articles 
of the Christian faith from the early ages of the church. What 
a communion must thus be produced in the minds of men on 
these important subjects. In how many other parts of our 
own and the primitive liturgies are the great distinguishing 
doctrines of the Christian faith set forth. Witness that of the 
holy, undivided and glorious Trinity. How carefully has the 
church guarded it, in every age, against the gates of hell. 
Who can tear it from our own or ang primitive liturgy with- 
out scattering them all in ten thousand fragments to the 
winds?* In every repetition of the doxology, after psalms, 
hymns and spiritual songs, we renew a declaration of our 
faith in the adorable Trinity, confirming and strengthening 
the same. Who can unite in the Te Deum, the Gloria 
Patri, Gloria in Excelsis, our Liturgy, Communion, and 
other services, without believing in the Three Persons, Father, 
Son, and Spirit? Whence came all the doxologies and ascrip- 
tions of praise and prayers? Without an exception, from the 
liturgies of ancient times, which copied them, if not always 
in the very words yet in the substance, from the Holy Scrip- 
tures.t When we examine into some of these venerable re- 
lics which have come down to us from ancient times, and 


* Now what is this doxology to the eternal Trinity thus enlarged and per- 
fected, but that of the church in heaven, which worships before the throne, 
erying “ Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to 
come.” And as they above repeat it continually, it can be no blame in us to 
do it frequently. And truly this form of sound and excellent words being so 
often rehearsed in our service, and that alternately by the minister and people, 
and thus mutually exciting and confirming each other’s faith, it must be their 
best guard against the attempts of some moderns, whereof one is so wild as to 
revive that very corruption of Arius, saying ‘“ Glory be to the Father, by the 


Son, in the Holy Ghost.”—Bisse’s Beauty of Holiness in the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer. 


+ The Gloria in Excelsis was also called the Angelical hymn, from begin- 
ning with the words of the song of the angels, “ Glory be to God on High.” 
This was chiefly used in the communion service. 

The Trisagion, or Cherubical hymn, was originally in these words—“ Holy! 
holy ! holy ! Lord God of Hosts; heaven and earth are full of thy glory ; who 
art blessed for ever. Amen.” This was formerly used in the middle of the 
communion service. 


The Hallelujah was generally sung upon Haster-day, and was used by all 


the people. Augustine terms it the Christian’s sweet call, whereby they in- - 


vited one another to sing praises unto Christ. 


14 
meet with so many well-known and hallowed ejaculations and 
supplications, we almost feel as if we were ris in our own 
beloved liturgy. 

I would especially notice one thing common to our ownand 
the ancient liturgies. Our prayers are many though forming 
one service, being broken into short expressive collects, and 
always conclude with the name of the blessed Saviour. Just 
so was itin the primitive liturgies. One only plea was put 
up, and that plea was mercy through Christ. Through thy 
Christ, for thy Christ’s sake, were the last words of every 
prayer, except such as were offered up immediately to the 
Son himself, asin the prayer of St. Chrysostom, the last of our 
service, which was addressed to the Son himself.* ~ This 
is a most blessed feature in our service and was in theirs. It 
was a strict compliance with the Saviour’s direction that we 
should ask for every thing in his name.t The church 
seems fearful to utter many words in prayer, to put up more 
than one or two petitions without stopping and mentioning the 
name of God’s dear Son, and entreating his intercession. 
What an effectual method of impressing this great doctrine on 
the heart. 

Having said thus much as to our agreement in doctrine and 
the mode of setting it forth, let me briefly allude to a close re- 
semblance even in gestures and forms. Are we sometimes 


* However clearly soever the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ is 
set forth in our articles and homilies, yet is it much more effectually done by in- 
terweaving of it in all our prayers and offices, making it the Alpha and Omega 
of the Frayer-book as it is of the Bible. Well did Luther call this blessed 
doctrine “ Articalus stantis vel cadentis ecclesiz.” No church can enjoy the 
blessing of Heaven except this great cardinal truth be clearly, emphatically, 
continually, and most earnestly preached. The Prayer-book does its part, let 
the ministry do theirs. It is said that a certain builder being engaged to con- 
struct a large and splendid temple, resolved to perpetuate. his name, not by 
engraving on one of the stones or pillars, but by so arranging all the parts of 
the front thereof, the windows, doors, projections, recesses, etc., that when the 
whole was finished, to the astonishment of all, there was the name of the ar- 
chitect, standing forth in bold relief, and so incorporated with the house that 
both must stand or fall together. So has this great truth been interwoven 
with the liturgy and offices of the church, that to obliterate it, you must de- 
stroy the whole. 

+ It is related of the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson, the giant of English 
literature, that breakfasting on a certain occasion with a friend, and perceiving’ 
that in saying grace he omitted the name of Christ, he was much affected and 
earnestly remonstrated with him on the subject, begging that he would never 
again be guilty of such an omission. 


15 


called upon to fall low on our knees before the Lord in humble 
supplication, and then to rise up and stand before Him and lift 
up our voices in praise? The primitive church had her days 
and seasons when all must kneel, and those on which it was 
forbidden to kneel, praise being comely on those days, and 
standing the comely posture for praise. Is it now our cus- 
tom, when certain choice portions of the gospel are read, for 
the people to rise up and hear it standing, as if Christ himself 
were speaking. So did the Christians of old stand up and lis- 
ten to the gospel. Do we on our first entrance into the 
church fall on our knees and offer up a short prayer in silence 
before the Lord? Do we in that most impressive service 
which inyests the well-proved deacon with higher orders, call 
upon every soul in whom is the spirit of prayer to fall upon 
their knees, and for the space of a few moments engage in si- 
lent entreaty with the Lord, and is this ever sodoneas to sur- 
prise and overawe the whole ass@mbly, and almost constrain 
the ungodly to pray? Why do we these things? Because 
the fathers did the same, only much more frequently in the 
midst of these solemn services ages since. Does the minister 
at this day, when about to break the bread and pour out the 
wine of our Lord’s Supper to humble recipients, say to them 
in words commanding and encouraging, “ Lift up your hearts,” 
and the people immediately respond, “ We lift them up unto 
the Lord?” These very words were taken warm from the 
lips of God’s best ministers and best people in the best days of 
the church. By how many millions of God’s ministers and saints 
have these words been uttered each Sabbath throughout all 
Christendom, from the times of which I speak to the present 
moment? In dispensing the sacred elements also, does the of- 
ficiating priest or bishop, lifting up the same, utter the well 
known words, “ The body or blood of our Lord Jesus Christ 
which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto 
everlasting life.” O who can number the myriads of voices 
that have uttered and ears that have heard these sweet sounds, 
these blessed benedictions in the use of the sacramental ser- 
vices from the times of the holy fathers to the present day ! 
They were the very same then as now, saving only that 
change which must be in passing from one language to ano- 


16 


ther. And what shall I say of the Lord’s prayer so often on 
our lips, so blended with every service of the church, proceed- 
ing first from the lips of Him who alone can teach us how to 
pray? This was the very beginning of all Christian liturgies. 
On this as a foundation were they built, the superstructures 
rising gradually and variously in the different churches plant- 
ed by the apostles. But the foundation was never forgotten 
or removed. When we use these words in our various ser- 
vices, sometimes again and again on the same Sabbath, can we 
otherwise than think with emotions of gratitude to its author 
of that communion of the hearts of the faithful produced by 
the use of these same words for eighteen centuries every day, 
every hour, by the countless myriads that have uttered them ? 
Is it not probable that more true prayer has gone up to hea- 
ven through the medium of these few words than of any or all 
other forms ever used among men ? 

To what has been said as to forms and prayers, I might add 
that as to all the great festivals of the church, such as Christ- 
mas, Easter, Whitsunday, we have not turned into any new 
and untried paths, but in celebrating them are merely walk- 
ing in the old and well-trodden ways of our fathers. And 
who does not love them the more for the traces of our fa- 
thers’ stepsseen therein? Andif any would wish to see other 
striking resemblances between things in our own and the pri- 
mitive churches, let him only take up the various collections 
of canons which are yet extant, and he will be surprised and 
pleased to see how clearly we have copied after them in many 
of our own. Our church has wisely and reverently learnt 
many an useful lesson from the experience of primitive times. 
In the relative duties, rights and privileges of the clergy and 
laity, in the distinctions between the different orders in the 
ministry, in the deportment of bishops and dioceses one to- 
wards another, in the union of priests with the bishop in laying 
on of hands upon the candidates for the priest’s office, and the 
number of bishops required for the consecration of a brother 
to the Episcopal office; in these and many such like things 
we have simply and strictly followed the example of the pri- 
mitive churches. . 

In only one other respect will I allude to a happy resem- 


17 


blance. Our bishops, like those of primitive times, are, thank 
God, preachers of the gospel, examples in this as in all other 
things to other ministers. Nay, they must of necessity be 
more abundant in labours than all others if strength be given. 
Circumstances beyond our control have indeed diffused our la- 
bours over large tracts of country in search of the few 
shepherds with their small flocks scattered over the 
same; but as these circumstances shall change, and by the 
blessing of God our churches and ministers multiply, we shall 
gladly I trust in this respect also imitate the primitive church, 
and by timely and judicious divisions of our dioceses bring each 
congregation under the frequent sound of the bishop’s voice, 
and let each chief shepherd know his sheep and be known of 
them. Now and then may each bishop of the church be in 
preaching as Paul was, and as he enjoined it upon Timothy 
and Titus to be. Like the primitive bishops may they be the 
chief preachers, full of sermons and exhortations, thus con- 
firming all the churches and holding up the hands of every 
other preacher. 

One remark permit me now to make, closing all I have to 
say on this part of my discourse. Concerning prayers, cere- 
monies, and the language of their creeds and some matters of 
discipline, there was at the first, even for a few centuries, some 
diversity among the churches, the substance of the faith being 
the same in all. But the true nature of Christian liberty was 
too well understood by them, and the spirit of Christian love 
was too strong in their hearts to let this diversity of form or 
language separate them from each other. ‘They agreed thus 
to differ in things not essential to the faith, and lived so as to 
force their enemies to say, “‘ See how these Christians love one 
another.” May that same spirit prevail ever among us, as to 
things of minor importance, and as to doctrines too high for us. 

The time came when it was expedient that a number of 
small and independent churches or dioceses should unite toge- 
ther in some common, well-digested liturgies, framed out of the 
many used, and in some common unvarying creeds as the 
Apostles and Nicene. In that respect also the church in 
America resembles the earlier churches. Though in some 
things distinct and independent, yet have we agreed in one 

3 


18 


common Liturgy—the most perfect we think of all—and in 
some common principles and general laws, for the preserva- 
tion of unity and peace. Long may that union subsist, and 
that Liturgy be maintained in its purity and integrity. Ad- 
hering to the wise policy which has hitherto governed all the 
acts of our General Convention, a policy so often and earnest- 
ly urged by the venerable father who is no longer to preside 
over our councils, that is, forbearing to legislate one step be- 
yond the actual needs of the church, may we long exhibit to 
the world the delightful spectacle of a number of Christian so- 
cieties, living together in happy harmony and meeting toge- 
ther to strengthen the bonds of love which have hitherto en- 
circled them. And though it may be impossible for our eccle- 
siastical union to survive that political severance sometimes so 
fearfully threatened, yet who shall say, but that our happy 
meetings here from all parts of our land, and our union at all 
times in so many things which bind hearts together before the 
throne of heaven, may not under God postpone that day of 
political disunion, and the church, instead of being sustained 
and kept together by the state, be the means of supporting for 
a while her sinking pillars, her tottering walls ? 


II. Inthe second place, having, as was proposed, rejoiced to 
find ourselves walking in some of the good old paths of the Lord 
and his people, it would be well to inquire whether we are 
walking before the Lord in all things zealously as did our fa- 
thers. Whether we speak of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apos- 
tles or the Fathers, they were truly and emphatically men of 
faith. Living at, or near unto, the time when either by an- 
gels, or in the person of Christ, God visited the earth and spake 
unto men, accompanying his word by wonderful signs, these 
men lived as “ nothing doubting,” as though God had just left 
off from speaking unto them; there was no wavering—no 
halting between two opinions with them—no compromising 
with the world—no fearing of man. With a holy zeal. and 
boldness they went forth to their duty, counting not life itself 
dear unto them, so they might secure the favour of heaven. 
‘Taking up their cross daily and following him, the first dis- 
ciples of Christ boldly said, ** Who can separate us from his 
love?” No peril, no tribulation, famine or sword moved them 


19 


from their integrity. They were ready at any moment to 
die for Christ. How bold were they to rebuke vice in every 
shape; yea, even to reprove kings at God’s command! Whe- 
ther it were Daniel in the court of Darius—Nathan in that of 
David—or Paul in the palace of the Cesars—the Spirit of 
God spake boldly out by the mouths of these holy men. How 
Felix trembled before Paul the prisoner, when he reasoned 
on righteousness, temperance and judgment to come! How 
boldly did the same declare as to all the vices of men, secret 
or open, the gross or the pleasant ones—the revellings, the 
banquetings of the sons and daughters of pleasure, “ That they 
who do such things shall never enter into the kingdom of hea- 
ven.” ‘The canons, and the discipline of the first ages, show 
clearly to us what was the religion of those days, how sepa- 
rate from sinners, how unspotted from the world, both priests 
and people were required to be.* The rich were charged 
faithfully to abound in good works and be glad to distribute, 
and they set an example before the world never seen before. 

The young were trained in paths of holiness in such a way 
as they never had been before, nor ever since. God’s ancient 
people, the Jews, had done much in this way. Line upon 
line, precept upon precept, had they given to their children 
out of God’s law, writing its precepts upon their gates, their 


* The following canons show the sense of the primitive church as to cer- 
tain evil places and practices. 

Let the bishop, priest, or deacon who spends his time in dice or drinking 
either desist or be deposed ; the sub-deacon, reader, singer, or layman be de- 
posed.—35th of the apostolical canons so called. 

In the Laodicean canons, 53, 54, 55, we find the following :—That they of 
the priesthood and clergy ought not to gaze at fine shows, at weddings, or other 
feasts, but before the musicians enter, to rise up and retreat. That they of the 
priesthood and clergy, or even laity, ought not to club together for great eating 
and drinking bouts. That Christians ought not to use wanton dancings at 
their marriages; but to have a modest dinner and supper. 

Also in the African code in the 15th canon it is written, “ Let not the sons 
of clergymen manage public shows, nor even be spectators of them: and it 
has always been enjoined on all Christians, that they go not where blasphemy 
is used, 

In Bingham’s Antiquities, as abridged by Henry, we find, page 239, the fol- 
lowing statement of the sentiments and practice of the primitive church. 

“ Besides acts of impurity the church was strict in)regard to all things that 
tended to it—as the writing or reading of lewd books, frequenting theatres or 
spectacles against modesty, promiscuous and wanton dancing, songs, riotous 
and intemperate feasting, etc. All these things were punished with excom- 
munication and penance, and in the case of clergymen with degradation.” 


20 


windows, their doors, their garments, their foreheads, and 
their hands. Much has been done in these latter days in our 
blessed Sunday schools for the younger children. But what 
all this compared to the constant, daily, systematic, thorough 
instruction of the Christian youth in the catechetical schools 
of primitive times? What all done by ministers and others 
compared with the careful, prayerful, long-continued instruc- 
tion of candidates for baptism ? O that all our schools and col- 
leges could be baptized as they were with the Holy Ghost! 
O that we were once more in that good old path in which the 
children of the faithful were trained for heaven. Never shall 
we have that great army of preachers without which the 
hosts of hell will not be vanquished, until our schools are con- 
secrated to the Lord and used as nurseries for young soldiers 
of the cross. 

Nor let us fear boldly to follow in that path so trodden by 
the preachers of the first ages of our religion—the path of 
zealous, frequent, faithful preaching of the gospel, that power 
of God to the salvation of the soul. The Saviour and his 
apostles took the lead. The fathers followed after. From 
house to house, in the temple, in the synagogue, in season, out 
of season, they preached the word of God. No matter who 
forbade, preach they would. No invidious comparisons were 
then made between prayers and sermons. Both were of God. 
Both were necessary. Many were the prayers, many were 
the sermons. The word preached, was yea and amen from 
the lips of many preachers, the one confirming what the other 
said, and the bishops crowning all with the word of exhorta- 
tion and the blessing. The Jewish and Christian Sabbaths 
were both observed, and many were the days of prayer and 
exhortation beside ; nor seemed it righteous overmuch to the 
faithful in that day thus often to meet together. 

As to the preaching of God’s word, my brethren, you well 
know how a time came when ¢hat almost ceased in the 
church of God, ceremonies and ordinances being nearly all 
that remained to the priest’s office. But remember that re- 
ligion, too, was well-nigh extinct at that time, Christianity 
being little more than a name or form. The Reformers were 
preachers, bold and fearless ones, and the Romanists dreaded 


21 


the sound of their voice even more than the thunder of the 
Vatican, for as a trumpet it proclaimed to the world all their 
abominations. O for thousands of such preachers as Paul, 
and Barnabas, and Chrysostom, and Cyprian, and Augustine, 
and Luther, and Calvin, and Melancthon, and Cranmer, and 
Latimer, and Ridley, and Hooper, to preach to this dull and 
Jukewarm age, the glorious doctrines of a crucified Redeemer, 
to wake it up from that deathlike slumber which has come 
over it.* 

Let me point you to another old and hallowed path, wor- 
thy to be trodden by far more than now seem willing to fol- 
low the footsteps of the Patriarchs,and Apostles, and Fathers. 
I mean the path that turns to the Gentiles. O for more of 
that spirit which Christ breathed into the apostles when he 
commanded them to go into all the world, preaching the gos- 
pel and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost. What must have been the zeal of those whose sound 
was so soon heard in all the world, their words reaching unto 
the ends of the earth? What necessity—what wo was upon 


* It was frequently the case that two or three sermons were preached in 
succession at the same assembly, first by the presbyters and then by the bishop, 
who, when present, usually closed this part of the service. Thus the apostoli- 
cal constitutions say, “ When the Gospel is read, let the presbyters one by one, 
but not all, speak the word of exhortation to the people, and last of all, the 
bishop, who is the governor or pilot of the ship.”’ The same thing appears 
from Chrysostom’s sermons, preached when a presbyter at Antioch, in which 
he alludes to the bishop as intending to preach after him in some such form as 
this, ‘It is now time for me to keep silence, that our master may have time to 
speak.” When two or more bishops happened to be together it was usual for 
several of them to preach in immediate succession, reserving the last place to 
the most venerable person. In some places they had a sermon every day, es- 
pecially in Lent and during the festival days of Easter, and many passages of 
ancient authors speak of sermons twice a day upon special occasions. Before 
beginning the sermon it was usual in many places to say, ** Peace be with 
you,” or “ The Lord be with you.” To which the people answered, “ And 
with thy spirit.” This has been incorporated into our service. Sometimes 
at the beginning and at others in the midst of their sermons, they would ad- 
dress short invocations, as that whichAmbrose is said to have used: “I be- 
seech thee, O Lord, and earnestly entreat thee, give me an humble knowledge 
which may edify ; put into my mouth the word of consolation, and edification, 
and exhortation. Let the words which thou givest thy servant be as the 
sharpest darts and burning arrows which may penetrate and inflame the minds 
of my hearers to thy fear and love.” Their sermons were extemporaneous and 
sometimes pre-composed, and varied as to length from ten minutes to an hour. 
When more than one preached, they must have delivered the shorter exhorta- 
tions or sermons.—See Henry’s Abridgment of Bingham. 


22 


them, unless they preached the gospel every where. The 
field was the world. And, remember, the whole world was 
then heathen, except those who were worse than the heathen, 
having crucified the Lord of glory and who every where 
stirred up the less hostile Gentiles against the disciples of 
Christ. All the first preachers of the gospel were as our 
foreign missionaries, only in far greater force. To own, to 
name Christ, was danger; to preach him, death. O how 
many madmen were there in those days; the world being 
judge; nay, such Christians as many of our day being 
judges. What a missionary was Paul! Scarce recovered 
from the overpowering vision which struck him to the earth, 
and without conferring with flesh and blood, he went on a 
three years’ mission into Arabia. Then for fourteen years 
what a wanderer! Look at the map of his journeyings by 
sea and by land, from city to city—from isle to isle—from 
continent to continent. Where shall we find him! Now at 
Jerusalem; now at Antioch; now at Athens; now at Corinth; 
now at Rome; now in Spain; now, perhaps, in the land of 
our fathers, on the shores of Britannia. Wherever the Ro- 
man eagle flapped its wing—wherever the Roman banner 
waved—there was Paul, preaching the unsearchable riches 
of Christ to the Gentiles. A debtor he was, indeed, both to 
the Jews and Gentiles—the desire and prayer of his heart to 
God was that Israel might be saved. He could wish himself 
to be accursed from Christ for his brethren’s sake. He was 
ready to die for them. He reasoned with them and persuaded 
them out of the scriptures in all their synagogues ; but when 
they judged themselves unworthy of eternal life and put the 
gospel away from them, then said he, “Lo! we turn to the 
Gentiles.” Neither did the other disciples wait in Jerusalem 
until it was a city of saints—neither tarried in Judea until it 
was as one rich garden of the Lord; but having preached 
first to the lost sheep of Israel, then, for the most part, scat- 
tered themselves far and wide, proclaiming to the then known 
world the glorious tidings of salvation through a crucified Re- 
deemer. How could they do otherwise, believing, knowing 
what they did, concerning the heathen world, and having any 
bowels of compassion in them? What an account does St. 


23 


Paul, and all other missionaries since the days of Paul, give 
of the moral condition of the heathen! I shall not shock your 
ears or cover your faces with a blush by the recital of what 
you may read in his letter to the then lords of the earth—the 
proud Romans. Make what aliowance we dare for the strong 
language of the impassioned Paul, still must we say, awful the 
condition of those who, dead in trespasses and sins, lived with- 
out hope and without God in the world, given up to the vilest 
affections, and with hearts so darkened as to worship the very 
stocks and stones of earth instead of the great Creator of the 
universe. O, brethren, what has become of the zeal and 
compassion which begun the conversion of the world? The 
spirit of missionaries and martyrs was then in every bosom. 
Whether they remained at home or went abroad, the heathen 
were all around them, and racks, and stakes, and scaffolds 
ever ready. But they courted death and longed for martyr- 
dom, and thousands found the death they sought, and the 
martyrdom for which they longed. But we have none to 
spare—not a minister, say some, can be taken from this 
Christian land for the millions who are living and dying in 
pagan darkness. Not a life can now be periled in such a 
cause. Not a son or daughter can we devote to this service. 
Can this be uttered by any having the least connexion with a 
church which so boldly professes to walk in the old paths? 
Old Abraham, at the command of God, could bind his son, 
his only son, and raise aloft his hand to strike the sacrificing 
knife to the heart of the child for whom he would have re- 
joiced to die. Old Abraham could leave his kindred and 
home, and ages beforehand go, ‘“‘not knowing whither he 
went,” to take possession, in the name of the Lord, of the pro- 
mised land. Moses could reject his royal hopes and refuse 
the riches of Egypt and lead forth the people of God through 
a dreary wilderness to the land of promise, though only per- 
mitted to view it from the top of the mount. But we, what 
trials will we endure, what sacrifices make in a cause still 
dearest to heaven of all causes? O, how lukewarm, how 
cowardly, how soon cast down and ready to despair, if nations 
are not born in a day under the feeble sound of one or two 
poor missionaries’ yoice. What if the valiant reformers had been 


24 


such as we? They did not rush, I know, into the midst of the 
swarming millions of China, nor throw themselves upon the lost 
fields of Asia Minor and Africa; but then remember, that all 
Europe was again one great missionary field, where they had, 
at the peril of life, to contend in deadly strife for the faith 
once delivered to the saints. Again must the blood of the 
martyrs be the seed of the church, and the faithful fight 
against the very gates of hell. The contest was for the very 
existence of our holy religion in its purity and power. O think 
you if such men as Luther and Calvin, Cranmer and Latimer, 
Ridley and Hooper, were now amongst us, that they would hang 
back in heartless indifference and almost revile the generous 
movements which some would make in behalf of perishing 
millions? Brethren, if cold caution, hesitating doubt, penu- 
rious calculation, and slow movement in such a cause as this, 
be among the old paths of the Lord in which his church has 
walked in the times of her zeal and glory, then have I misunder- 
stood my text, and let all that has been said pass for nought. 


III. Having detained you already to an unusual, perhaps 
unreasonable length, can I dare ask that you will allow me 
to add to these congratulations and exhortations a very few 
words of caution and warning ? 

Too thankful we cannot be that God hath blessed us with 
the continuance of the primitive, apostolical form of govern- 
ment, and with the choicest prayers, and hymns, and creeds 
from the purest churches. They are a most inestimable bless- 
ing, admirably calculated to preserve the faith in its purity, 
the church in its unity, and for nourishing the very spirit of 
piety in the heart. Without such government and such es- 
tablished worship it would really seem impracticable to pre- 
vent divisions and heresies most injurious to the cause of reli- 
gion. No talents, no learning, no zeal, no piety, seem to be 
sufficient to avert these evils without other aid. Atall events 
it is conceded, even by many who walk not with us, that our 
polity and ritual do present very powerful barriers against 
the inroads of heresy and schism. But let us beware of the 
error of placing an undue reliance upon them. Mighty they 
may be, and under God certainly are, and yet of themselves 


25 


insufficient to avert any such evil from his church. By trust- 
ing too much to them we are tempted to neglect other things 
indispensably necessary. We may cry “the temple of the 
Lord, the temple of the Lord are we,” while the Lord of the 
temple is notin us. The history of the church of God affords 
but too many a proof of this. There was a divine govern- 
ment in Israel; there was a temple worship at Jerusalem ; 
there were prayers and services in the synagogues, in which 
the Saviour and the apostles did not hesitate to unite. Many 
of those prayers have come down to us to the present day, 
and some may perhaps have been mingled with the earlier 
liturgies, being only so changed as to suit the Christian dis- 
pensation. And yet the Saviour denounced the worshippers 
as corrupt and abominable, charged them with the hypocrisy 
of crying Lord, Lord, but not doing the will of God, drawing 
nigh to him with their lips, while their hearts were far from 
him; and let it also be remembered that heresies and divi- 
sions sprung up in the bosom of those churches which were 
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, having 
creeds of the purest theology, and liturgies of most seraphic 
piety. In the use of those creeds and liturgies, and under that 
apostolic form of government, the spirit of religion neverthe- 
less disappeared, while the form of godliness was retained long 
after the power of it ceased to be felt. While then a scriptu- 
ral government and holy worship should be most carefully pre- 
served, we must not imagine that they will avail for the pro- 
motion of true piety unless other things equally enjoined in 
the word of God be cultivated with a zeal becoming their im- 
portance.* The spirit of prayer must be nourished in all 


* In proof of the assertion that the form of godliness may be retained long 
after the spirit is lost, let any one read the history of the council of Constance, 
so celebrated for its persecution of Huss and Jerome. Milner gives us the 
following reflections upon it. “ Those who look only upon the external forms 
of religion might be tempted to think that the council of Constance was in 
general influenced by the Spirit of God. In all their public sessions they sang 
an anthem, and then prayed, kneeling. After having remained for some time 
in this posture, a deacon called out to them to rise; and then the President 
addressed himself to the Holy Ghost in a loud voice, in a collect, which, in 
very solemn and explicit terms, supplicated his effectual influence, that not- 
withstanding the enormity of their sins, which filled them with dread, he 
would deign to descend into their hearts, to direct them, to dictate their de- 
crees and to execute them himself, and also to preserve their minds from cor- 


4 


26 


hearts. The word of God must be diligently studied by all 
ranks and ages. Zeal and holiness must be urged upon all 
with the utmost importunity. The greatest care should be 
taken in the admission to holy orders. As it will ever be like 
priest, like people, let the bishops of the church take good heed 
on whom they lay ordaining hands, that they be men of God, 
moved to the work by the Holy Ghost, and then thoroughly 
furnished unto every good work. Let our theological semi- 
naries be most anxiously watched and guarded, so that they 
send forth not merely shining, but much more burning lights 
into the world. Let the ministers of God add to prayers, and 
lessons, and ordinances, faithful and impassioned preaching, 
lifting up their voices like trumpets, and declaring to a lost 
world salvation only through a crucified Lord. Let them, as 
solemnly bound by their vows, exercise godly discipline, and 
guard well the allar. Let them not fill the churches with 
worldly professors who have scarce a name to live even among 
men, and before God are dead. Let them above all, watch 
over the rising generation, seeking to instruct their minds with 
the true knowledge of God’s word, and to imbue their hearts 
with its very spirit, thus preparing them for a deliberate, en- 
lightened and hearty reception of the rite of confirmation. 
Let the bishops lay their hands suddenly on no one, even in 
the rite of confirmation, for that also is a solemn ordination, 
and the ministers should take good heed how they present 
candidates for the same unto the bishop. Let that door of 
entrance be well guarded and the church is safe. Let it be 
thrown open, or hang loosely on its hinges, so that any may 
open and enter, and the church is dishonoured and becomes a 
by-word and a proverb among men. Let these and all other 
means for promoting zealous piety among ministers and peo- 
ple, be faithfully used, or vain will be our apostolic govern- 
ment, and venerable forms, and holy hymns, and doxologies, 


Tupt passions, and not suffer them, through ignorance or selfishness, to swerve: 
from justice and truth. The ideas and perhaps words were, however, taken 
from better times, when the operations of the Holy Ghost were not only pro- 
fessed but felt in Christian assemblies. The forms of true religion, often re- 
main a long time, after the spirit of it has been almost extinguished. Both 
the emperor Sygismond and his. consort Barba, who were infamous for lewd- 
ness, attended the religious ceremonies of this council. Sygismond,in a dea- 
con’s habit, read the gospel, while the Pope celebrated mass.” 


27 


coming down from primitive times. Our ministers, though 
they cannot preach heresy and schism, may, as too many have 
done, sink Christian doctrine into a mere meager morality on 
which the souls of the people famish ; and the people them- 
selves, though holding fast the form of sound words, and 
joining in such prayers as angels might use, nevertheless be 
what too many in our own and moiher church have been, a 
reproach to that church, and to Him who purchased it with 
his own precious blood.* 


* The church required in the clergy an exemplary purity and gravity beyond 
that of other men. They were to draw the picture of all manner of virtues in 
their own lives, and set themselves as examples to the people. The priest’s 
office isa more difficult province than that of leading an army or governing a 
kingdom, and requires an angelic virtue. His soul ought to be purer than the 
sun, that the Holy Spirit may never leave him desolate, but that he may always 
be able to say, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”— Chrysostom on the 
Priesthood. 

The clergy were required to exercise the most exemplary hospitality to the 
poor and strangers, and in order to this, to observe great frugality and 
simplicity in regard to their own personal expenses. They were not to 
affect state, have rich furniture, nor give sumptuous entertainments. They 
were required to be patterns of meekness, humility and gravity; and the 
tules and canons of the church were very strict against all unbecoming 
levity of deportment, all scurrility, buffoonery and indecency of discourse. 

The exemplary conduct of the Christian ministers, in the time of Julian 
the apostate, was such as to force him to propose them as examples to the 
heathen clergy, when he attempted to re-establish paganism. 

« Priests, he said, should so live as to be copies of what they preached by 
their own lives, and dissolute ones should be expelled from their offices. Not 
only wicked actions but obscene and indecent language, should be avoided by 
them. No idle books and wanton plays, but divine philosophy, should be 
studied by them. They should learn sacred hymns by heart, should pray 
thrice or at least twice every day; and when in their turn called on to attend 
the temple, they should never depart from it, but give up themselves to their 
office. At other times they should never frequent the forum, nor approach 
the houses of the great, unless with a view of procuring relief for the indigent, 
or to discharge some part of their office ; that in no case should they frequent 
the theatres, nor even be seen in the company of a charioteer, player or dancer. 
Tn every city the most pious and virtuous should be ordained, without regard 
to their circumstances. The godly training of their own families, and their 
compassionate care for the indigent, should be their best recommendation. 
The impious Galileans, he observed, by their singular benevolence, had strength- 
ened their party, and heathenism had suffered by want of attention to these 
things.” Such was the fire the apostate stole from heaven, and such his 
artifice in managing it! These rules he must have derived from the Holy 
Scriptures, for they are not to be found in any of the heathen writers which 
he studied and admired. They are rules which well deserve the attention of 
Christian pastors in every age. In imitation of Christians he established 
schools for the education of youth. He appointed lectures on religion, stated 
times for prayers, monasteries for devout persons, hospitals and alms-houses 
for the poor and diseased and for strangers, These things he especially re- 
commended in a letter to Arsacius, the chief priest of Galatia, in which he 


28 


In order to form a due estimate of our character and con- 
dition, our trials and duties at the present day, it would be’ 
well sometimes to look back to our past history in our own 
and mother country. Long and severe were the contests of 
our fathers with those who had corrupted religion in their 
land. Often was the victory gained and often lost, and some- 
times it hung in long and painful suspense. The connexion 
which had long subsisted between the church and civil go- 
vernment made the battles more deadly and the issues more 
uncertain. Truth at length prevailed, but not without some 
admixture of error, the result of long established habits, and of 
circumstances not easy to be controlled. Some there were 
who became impatient of remaining evils, and too strongly 
demanded immediate and total reform, proposing at the same 
time changes which would indeed have marred the fair face 
of our Zion. The puritans, by insisting too strenuously on 
some things, drove their opponents into the opposite errors, and 
what with its connexion with government, the character of 
many of its clergy,* and the wealth and fashion of the nobility 
who mostly adhered to it, the church was justly liable to the 
charge of having at her communion very many of the worldly 
and fashionable whose lives illy consisted with the solemn 
vows uttered at the table of the Lord. In establishing the 


tells him, it was that advanced the impious religion of the Christians; that it 
was their kindness to strangers, their care in burying the dead, and their 
affected gravity. He bids him.warn the heathen priests to avoid play-houses 
and taverns and sordid employments. Hospitals should be erected in every 
city for the reception of all sorts of indigent persons. The Galileans, he said, 
relieve both their poor and ours.” j 

* When I think of what was the character of very many of the Episcopal 
clergy in England formerly, and what still is the character of not a few at this 
day, and of a large number of those sent over to raise up the church in America, 
a character resulting a great measure, from the peculiar circumstances of her 
history, and think upon the great change which has taken place in England, 
and the still greater in our own land, I am reminded of the following passage 
in Bishop Burnet’s history of his own times. 

“T shall conclude all that I have to say in this place of the affairs of Rome, 
with a lively saying of queen Christina, to myself at Rome. She said it was 
certain the church was governed by the immediate care and providence of 
God ; for none of the four popes that she had known, since she came to Rome, 
had common sense.” As God works by certain instruments in effecting all 
his glorious reformations, so I cannot but think that the effective instruments, 
in this reformation, are our admirable Liturgy and offices, and the well or- 
dered government with which we are blessed. 


‘29 


church in our own country, we are found in circumstances 
subjecting us to some of the same temptations and the same 
reproaches. In the providence of God, in very many of our 
churches is to be found a large proportion of the wealthy, the 
educated, the honourable of the land, who, as in all other 
countries and ages, are liable to their peculiar temptations. 
Those temptations, instead of being adduced as excuses for their 
faults, or pleas for ministerial negligence, should only furnish 
stronger motives for ministerial fidelity and zeal. It is ours 
especially to charge the rich of this world that they be not 
high minded—that they be glad to distribute of their store— 
to warn the lovers of pleasure that they are dead even while 
they live—to say to all, if any love the world the love of the 
Father is not in them. ‘This is our most bounden duty, and 
to shrink from it is cowardice and sin. This is one of the old 
paths in which God would have us to walk. ‘The sentiments 
of the primitive church as to all those amusements, those re- 
velings and banquetings for which even some professing Chris- 
tians plead, are well known by the canons which are still ex- 
tant, and the discipline which was exerted. Our general 
conventions and some of our state conventions, have delivered 
their sentiments in unequivocal terms concerning them—nor 
delivered them in vain. Just sentiments and consistent prac- 
tice on these subjects prevail more and more throughout all 
our borders. Few comparatively are those who will so far 
oppose public sentiment, so mortify the ministers of God, so 
grieve the best friends of religion and the church, so give oc- | 
casion to its enemies to triumph, as to frequent and encourage 
places or scenes of ungodly mirth. Those few, even if not so 
far transgressing the letter of the law as to subject themselves 
to the discipline of the church, will yet, for violating its spirit, 
only render themselves the more objects of remark and con- 
demnation. But to them would we say, lifting up our voice, 
if it were possible, so as to be heard through all the borders of 
our Zion, where is your love for religion, for the church of 
God, for our special branch of it, that you will consent still to 
keep up this old reproach, that by your example you will 
drive the humble and pious inquirer to some other fold, yea, 


30 


that you are so acting that some of your own children, per- 
haps, if ever the grace of God shall take possession of their 
hearts, may renounce the church of their parents and blame you 
for the deed? I will only add, that of all the churches in the 
land ours is that one whose members and ministers ought to 
be most particular and faithful as to these things of which I 
speak. 

In relation to our Christian friends of other communions, 
who, I well know, often charge us with far more of worldli- 
ness than is justly due, may God give us grace to cherish and 
exhibit the loving and charitable spirit of our divine Master. 
They exist in great numbers and respectability throughout 
our land. The image of Christ is upon thousands and tens of 
thousands whom we hope to see and love in heaven. The 
zeal, and piety, and talents, and learning of many of them God 
is pleased to make much use of for his own gracious purposes 
in our own and other lands. We differ from them in points 
which seem to us important, and think that much of the un- 
happy discord which destroys their peace results from de- 
fects in those things wherein we differ. Let us not severely 
upbraid or boastingly triumph, but rather sympathize with 
them and pray that God may direct all to his glory. Let us 
candidly acknowledge and truly love all that is good in 
them, calling nothing common or unclean which God hath 
cleansed. In so doing we shall walk in the old paths of our 
fathers, whose mild and tolerant spirit ever shrunk from the 
bitterness of invective and the cruclty of persecution. | speak 
of those who have left to us, in our articles and liturgy, an im- 
press of their own minds and hearts. The secular arm may 
have been sometimes raised in anger, may have bathed its un- 
hallowed sword in blood, and even some of the ministers of God 
may have lifted up their voices to call down fire from heaven, 
but we look in vain through the articles, offices and prayers 
of the church for one unkind word. Whilc firmly maintaining 
our own distinctive principles, and walking by our own rules, 
let us exhibit the same spirit of kindness to those who differ 
from us; and, among other results, the disposition already so 
strongly manifested on the part of numbers not trained in our 
communion, will increase more and more, and thousands now 


31 


tossed about by every wind of doctrine and driven to and fro 
on the waves of the tempestuous sea of controversy, will gladly 
seek an asylum in our own more peaceful bosom. 

I have now only to add, that in all our expectations and 
hopes, and efforts for our beloved church, we shall be greatly 
encouraged by casting a filial eye towards the church of our 
fathers. Ever eventful and deeply interesting has been her 
history. In the midst of foes, various, numerous and violent, 
who have ever sought and prophesied her downfall, she yet sur- 
vives, yet lives on the soil which was enriched by the blood of 
her martyrs, where she has long stood, the mightiest bulwark of 
the reformation, the right arm of the Lord, which he stretched 
forth in defence of his persecuted truth. Never were her 
foes more numerous, or more violent, or the weapons of their 
warfare more deadly, than at the present time. But never 
were her friends more true and more united, and never did the 
Lord appear more clearly on her side to fight her battles. Not 
with armies and fleets, not with treasures of silver and gold, 
not with edicts of kings and parliaments does he come forth 
to her rescue, but he comes in the spirit of holiness, putting 
new life and zeal into all orders of her ministers and ranks of. 
her friends ; he comes in that noble spirit of liberality which 
pours its annual millions of voluntary contributions into the 
hands of those devoted ones who are building churches at 
home and sending missionaries abroad, and are resolved 
to leave nothing undone which shall make the church of our 
forefathers a praise to him on the earth.* She exhibits to 


* The following account of the origin of some of those excellent societies, 
which have so blessed England and the world, is from Bishop Burnet’s histo- 
ry of his own times, which, as well as other works of this eminent prelate, 
are worthy of frequent perusal, and are especially recommended to our young 
candidates for the ministry. 

“In King James’ reign, the fear of popery was so strong, as well as just, 
that many, as well in and about London, began to meet often together, both 
for devotion and for their further instruction. Things of that kind had been 
formerly practised only among the puritans and dissenters, but these were of 
the church, and came to their ministers to be assisted with forms of prayer 
and other directions. They were chiefly conducted by Dr. Beveridge and Dr. 
Horneck. Some disliked this, and were afraid it might be the original of new 
factions and parties; but wiser and better men thought it was not fit nor de- 
cent to check a spirit of devotion at such a time. It might have given scandal, 
and it seemed a discouraging of piety, and might be a mean to drive well 
meaning persons over to the dissenters. After the Revolution, their societies 


32 


the world the uncommon spectacle of a church without revo- 
lution, renewing herself unto greater zeal and holiness, ra- 
pidly improving in the character of her clergy, and bidding 
fair to command the increasing veneration of the good and 
pious of every name. Her enemies may assail her outworks, 
may prostrate some of them to the ground, may seize upon 
her treasures with sacrilegious hands, may rob the Lord of 
his revenues, but the citadel! is safe; for the Spirit of the Lord 
is there. Let us seek to follow her noble example, by a faith- 
ful adherence to the spirit of our articles and services, avoid- 
ing whatever deserves to be lamented in her, the result of hu- 
man infirmity and of those peculiar disadvantages under which 
she has ever laboured. 

Our career, brethren and friends, has but just begun. 
Thus far God has blessed us. Our outward prosperity is cer- 
tainly not small. Heaven grant that it be not too great for 
us. Let us not be highminded but fear, remembering that 


grew more numerous, and for a greater encouragement to devotion, they got 
such collections to be made, as to maintain many clergymen to read prayers in 
so many places, and at so many different hours, that devout persons might have 

. that comfort at every hour of the day. There were constant sacraments every 
Lord’s day in many churches: there were both great numbers and greater ap- 
pearances of devotion at prayers and sacraments, than had been observed in 
the memory of man. These societies resolved to inform the magistrates of 
swearers, drunkards, profaners of the Lord’s day, and of lewd houses; and 
they threw in the part of the fine given by law to the informers, into a stock 
of charity. From this they were called societies of reformation. Some good 
magistrates encouraged them, but others treated them roughly. As soon as 
Queen Mary heard of this, she did by her letters and proclamations encourage 
their good designs, which were afterwards prosecuted by the late king. Other 
societies set themselves to some charity schools for teaching poor children, for 
clothing them and binding them out to trades. Many books were printed and 
sent over the nation by them to be freely distributed. These were called so- 
cieties for propagating Christian knowledge. By this means some thousands 
of children are now well educated and carefully looked after. In many places 
of the nation the clergy met often together to confer about matters of religion 
and learning, and they got libraries to be raised for their common use. At last 
a corporation was created by the late king, for propagating the gospel among 
infidels, for settling schools in our plantations, for furnishing the clergy that 
were sent there, and sending missionaries among such of our plantations as 
were not able to provide pastors for themselves. It was a glorious conclusion 
of a reign that was begun with preserving our religion, thus to create a cor- 
poration propagating it to the remotest parts of the earth and among infidels, 
There were very liberal subscriptions made to it by many of the bishops and 
clergy, who set about it with great care and zeal. Upon the queen’s accession 
to the crown, they had all possible assurances of her favour and protection, of 
which, upon every application, they received very eminent marks,” 


33 


our numerical increase in ministers and churches is not an in- 
fallible measure of our spiritual advancement. Let us, then, 
rejoice with trembling, or the intoxication of success may be 
at once the mean and omen of our fall, and our fall be the 
more disastrous by reason of our present elevation. Let us 
follow peace with all men, imitating the example of that 
venerable patriarch of our Zion, who lived and died in this 
city of brotherly love, to whose peace he so greatly contri- 
buted, by whose citizens he was so highly honoured, so sin- 
cerely beloved, whose death created a general pause along 
all its streets, and whose funeral procession was one long un- 
broken line from the door of his house to the mouth of his se- 
pulchre. May his mantle descend not on one of us, but on 
all. Imbibing his truly catholic spirit, adhering to his judi- 
cious, moderate, and true interpretation of our standards, 
avoiding all metaphysical discussions and doubtful disputations, 
we shall agree on all subjects where agreement is necessary, 
and readily consent to differ, where difference is unimportant.* 


* The following, according to Milner, are the sentiments of Luther on a 
subject which has so often distracted the minds of men and dishonoured, by bit- 
ter controversy, the church of God. Our church in this country has thus far 
escaped and long may it be preserved from the evil. 

“The Saxon reformer, though he denied as we have repeatedly seen, the 
existence of all human ability to save a lost sinner, as also the inefficacy of 
all human qualifications to merit reward ; and though he ascribed salvation 
to grace alone and to the merciful will of Ged, yet on the delicate question of 
predestination ever displayed that moderation by which his mind was uniformly 
influenced in all doctrinal inquiries, except one, (that of consubstantiation) 
and content with what scripture had revealed, he never undertook to explain 
this difficult subject with any thing like systematic precision; much less did 
he ever think proper to propose the arduous speculation, concerning the di- 
vine decrees, as necessary articles of a Christian’s faith. It happened, how- 
ever, that a neighbouring minister, with a view of comforting one of his flock, 
whose mind was much distressed, respecting the secret counsels of God, was 
desirous of obtaining from Luther more satisfaction on this head than could 
be collected from his writings. This circumstance gave to our reformer 
the occasion of writing an epistle, in which he says: ‘“‘ Many have perished 
in the indulgence of such curious inquiries; it is a temptation which leads 
even to blasphemy. I myself, by giving way to it, have more than once 
been reduced to the last extremity. We poor mortals by faith can scarcely 
comprehend a few rays of the divine promise, or receive in practice a few 
sparks of the divine precepts ; and yet, feeble and impure as we are, we rashly 
attempt to fathom the majesty of God in all his brightness. Do we not 
know that his ways are past finding out? Instead of using well the mild 
light of the divine promises, which is adapted to our faculties, we rush, with 


34 . 


Then shall we extort from every mouth ‘that highest of all 
praises, “Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for 
brethren to dwell together in unity.”” Then shall our Zion be 
_as “a city that is at unity with itself” Then shall “ peace be 
within our walls and plenteousness within our palaces,” and 
surely, every good man in our land will wish us prosperity. 
' AMEN. 


eyes of moles, to view at once the majestic splendour of the Deity. What 
wonder then if his glory should overwhelm us in the attempt to investigate it!” 

The author of this sermon was acquainted, while at college, Wie young 
licensed minister of very superior talents, who was much given to speculation 
on the divine decrees and those subjects connected with the same. That 
gentleman has since, by the force of his commanding talents and great worth, 
held high stations in the literary world, and still continues to do so. It was 
the lot of the author to meet with him a few years since, when the old sub- 
ject came under consideration, and the able divine, and accomplished scholar, 
and acute reasoner, made the following statement: “ After we parted I continued 
passionately devoted to the study of those subjects, and was satisfied that I could 
master them thoroughly, and present to the world a clear exhibition of them. 
I gave myself up to them almost entirely for ten years, still resolving to un- 
derstand them ; but at the end of ten years, I found myself in utter darkness, 
without any fixed opinion or belief on the subject. I then laid them aside 
entirely and now never read or think about them. I have but one answer 
to all who ask my opinion, and that is, <1 know nothing about them.’” ~~ 

We are informed that in the sixth. century, Christians had drawn the ab- 
strusest niceties into controversy, and had thereby so destroyed peace, love 
and charity, that they lost the whole substance of religion, and in a manner 
drove Christianity quite out of the world, so that the Saracens, taking ad- 
vantage of their differences, found it an easy matter to establish Mahometanism 
upon the ruins of Christianity. From this lamentable fact let Christians 
learn an instructive lesson. 

y 


BEFORE THE 


| CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 


ON LORD’S DAY, MARCH 8, 1829. 


BY PHINEHAS COOKE, , 
LATE PASTOR OF SAID CHURCH. 


Published by request. 


WINDSOR; 
PRINTED AT THE CHRONICLE PRESS, BY JOHN C. ALLEN. 


1829, 


The two following Sermons are affectionately dodiieisa to the wing ae. 
my late charge, at whose request they appear in their present form. The dif- 
ference between them noz and when delivered, is trivial—no more than was 
necessary in revising what had been prepared in haste, amid many peerest 
duties, and anxieties. 


SERMON. 


— = 


. 
ACTS, 20: 32. 


AND Now BRETHREN, I COMMEND YOU TO GOD, AND TO THE WORD OF HIS 
GRACE, WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP, AND TO GIVE YOU AN INHERI- 
TANCE AMONG ALL THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED. 


"Tuese were a part of the last words of Paul to the Church 
at Ephesus. He was just finishing his labours among them, in 
which he ceased not to warn every one night and day with 
tears. “I have,” said he, “ coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or 
apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered 
unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have 
shewed you all things, how that labouring ye ought to support 
the weak; and to remember the Lord Jesus, how he said it is 
more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus 
spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they 
all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him; sor- 
rowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they 
should see his face no more.” : 

If there is a scene on earth, touching to pious sensibility, 
it is the parting of a minister with his Church, when God 
had crowned their union with signal blessings. Waiving 
those thoughts on this subject which the occasion naturally 
suggests, with humble diffidence I will make the commenda- 
tion of the Apostle my own. J commend you, brethren, to 
God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you 


4 


up, and to give you an inheritance among all them that are 
sanctified. 

The question before us, is,—What is implied by a minister 
commending his Church to God, and tothe word of his grace ? 

1. That his previous labours among them, without that 
perfecting which God’s grace alone can give, will avail noth- 
ing. The planting and watering of a Church is distinet from 
its growth in grace. A minister may do the former, but it is 
God only, who can promote the latter. A Pastor may be the 
honoured instrument under God, of bringing many souls into 
Christ’s visible Church; but such is the deceitfulness of the 
human heart, and so frequefit are apostacies, that he dare not 
warrant a single one to reach the kingdom of heaven. “ Grace 
must complete what grace begins.” Although I may charita- 
bly hope, that most of the members added to this Church 
since my becoming its pastor, will persevere unto the end, yet 
this hope depends entirely on the power and grace of God, 
that he will perfect that which he has begun. ‘To whom, 
therefore, but unto him, can I commend you? He has the 
words of eternal life. 

2. Commending a Church to God, further implies, that 
he is able to bless the means employed by their Pastor to build 
them up, after he ceases to instruct them. The apostle draws 
this conclusion, when he enjoins on the Church at Ephesus to 
watch, and remember the warnings which he gave them, night 
and day, with tears. God is able to stir up your minds by 
way of remembrance, and to enable you to give an earnest 
heed to the things ye have heard, lest at any time, you let 
them slip. 

It may be safe to believe, that some truth has been dispen- 
sed to you, which, as yet, has not produced in your hearts its 
legitimate fruit. Much seed has been sown, which, I trust, 
has not yet come up. Its future growth depends on the fertili- 
zing influence of God’s spirit. The number of sermons I have 
preached to you, will not vary far from two thousand. Al- 
low each discourse to contain but one truth, which if duly re- 
garded would save a soul; has the harvest, as yet, been in pro- 


° 


proportion to the sowing? There has not been one fold; 
where there might have been, some thirty, some sixty, and 
some an hundred. According to this calculation, much of 
this truth has been forgotten or mis-applied. When will this 
seed come up? Will it come at all? O, Lord God, thou 
knowest. May I not hope, some of these truths will be remem- 
bered after my departure ? Such things have been. One has 
sowed, and another reaped. In order for such a desirable 
event, the hearers will strive to recollect the word which has 
been dispensed to them, and to cultivate it with prayers, and 
tears, that it may one day become a savour of life unto life. 

3. To commend a Church to God, and to the word of his 
grace, also implies faith in one, who is able to build you up in 
this world. All the hope I have that you will retain your 
present standing, and rise yet higher in spiritual things, is, that 
the great Head of the Church will keep you, and prosper you. 


What warrant have I, or what have you, that after my depar- 


ture, grievous wolves will not enter in among you, not sparing 
the flock ? None but the divine protection. Could you imme- 
diately obtain another Pastor, far superior to him who now re- 
tires, you are sensible, he could not build you up, without the 
divine blessing. Faith in God, is the only alternative. There 
is my hope, that you will keep together, and will preserve the 
unity of the spirit, in the bond of peace. I trust, Brethren, 
these are no new thoughts to you. We have, while together, 
witnessed so frequently, blessings from the upper and nether 
springs, that we surely ought, by this time, to be no strangers 
from whence cometh our help. But lest you should say, 
“ there is no danger but we shall keep united, no danger but 
we shall settle another minister soon,” I would exhort you, 
with deep humility to look to Him who alone can bring this 
about, and dispose your hearts to unite in so desirable an event. 
Nothing is indeed wanting to effect this great object, but 
humble reliance on God, and united, vigorous exertion among 
yourselves. Forget not for one moment, that a faithful minis- 
ter is one of Christ’s ascension gifts. Such a Pastor is never 
sent, but in answer to the prayers of the faithful. Christ, the 


= 


6 


great shepherd and bishop of souls, sends his under shepherds 
where he pleases. To him I commend you, and pray that he 
will shortly send you a pastor after his own heart. 

4. The commendation in the text further implies, that God 
would at last, give you an inheritance among all them that 
are sanctified. 

The Apostle, when taking leave of the Ephesian Church, 
looks beyond their present establishment in the faith—he de- 
sires for them a place amidst the Church triumphant. 

Entire sanctification is a mark, at which every Christian 
should aim. An inheritance among the sanctified, would be a 
seat in heaven. ‘This is the final goal to which you, my breth- 
ren, profess to be bound. The journey you have begun, leads 
to the heavenly Canaan. The intermediate steps you are now 
taking. Many of these, you have taken with me. Nota few 
in this Church, began their first step in the divine life, under 
my guidance. We have taken sweet counsel together, and 
have walked to the house of God in company. Together, we 
have prayed and praised, and have often sat at the same com- 
munion table. These are the ways which lead to an inheri- 
tance among them that are sanctified. Press forward to the 
mark for the prize. “He that endureth unto the end, shall 
be saved.” 

Remember, dear brethren, the means by which these glo- 
rious benefits will redound to you, is, by the attention paid the 
word of grace. Whatever progress you have made in holi- 
ness, has arisen from the attention you have paid the written 
and preached word, through the aid of the Spirit. This has 
raised you to what you are ; and it is this which must continue 
to build you up. 

It is remarked by all who know the circumstances of this 
Church and people, that for a course of years, you have been 
signally prospered in the things of religion. It may be proper 
to inquire, what have been the distinguishing marks of that 
word of grace, which has been delivered unto you, and through 
which you have been so greatly prospered? You have been 
taught that the heart of man, by nature, is entirely alienated: 


7 


from God, and except he be renewed in the temper of his mind, 
by the Holy Spirit, he never can enter into the kingdom of 
heaven—that men do no holy actions in the sight of heaven, 
before they are regenerated, because such can result only 
from saving faith—that repentance is the imperious duty of the 
sinner, and in working out his salvation, is as necessary as the 
atonement of Christ—that in the dispensation of grace, God 
acts as a sovereign, claiming the right of having mercy on 
whom he will, where all are unworthy,—that men are moral 
agents, and may, if they will, avoid the evil, and choose the 
good,—that all who are born of the Spirit, will be kept by the 
power of God, unto salvation,—that, from first to last, our sal- 
vation is procured by the precious blood of Christ, who in his 
divine nature, is equal with God,—and that the rewards of 
the righteous and wicked, are alike, eternal. 

Believing these fundamental truths, and adopting that prac- 
tice which naturally flows from such belief, is that which has 
built up this Church, and given it its signal prosperity. A 
bare recital of these doctrines, once drove from your commu- 
nion table, one who intruded himself without the wedding 
garment,—who felt their power to condemn, but we fear, not 
as yet, to convert. ‘“ Of what almighty force they are.”—Why 
should I not then, on leaving you, enjoin a continuance in the 
same truths which have proved so efficacious ? You know by 
observation, and many of you by experience, the power they 
have had in convicting and converting souls. You know they 
have been instrumental in promoting and carrying on revivals 
of religion. I verily believe, you will not exchange this sys- 
tem of religion for any other. 

In preaching, and defending, these doctrines of grace, I 
am sensible some have thought they were hard sayings, and dif- 
ficult to be borne. Some, in this church, once thought they 
never should believe them, although they now form the sheet- 
anchor of their hope. The reason of this was, because “ the 
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, nei- 
ther can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” 
But to the eye of faith, no other plan of salvation seems wor- 
thy of him, who came into the world to save sinners. 


eS ee 


8 


I leave you, brethren, professedly rooted and grounded on 
this system; Jesus Christ, and him crucified, its chief corner- 
stone. Abide on this rock, and it shall be well with you. 
Should any members in this Church apostatize from this system 
of faith, they are hereby reminded, that they will fall from that 
which they once solemnly professed to believe, in the presence 
of God, angels and men. 

I leave you, at a time, when, if ever, it is important that a 
professed Christian should know, in whom he has believed. I 
trust, you are able to discern the signs of the times, and that 
you will contend earnestly for the faith, once delivered to the 
saints. May the Almighty shield you from error, fatal to the 
soul, and enable you at last to come off more than conquerors, 
through him that loved you and gave himself for you. 

I leave you, not as I found you, a small church, having nev- 
er enjoyed a season of refreshing from the presence of the 
Lord. But I leave you, after having witnessed many wonders 
of Divine grace, and after you have been greatly increased, 
with the increasings of God. I intreat you, after 1 am gone, 
leave not that way in which God has so prospered you. “ Stand 
ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is 
the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest to your 
souls.” ‘“ Let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of 
Christ, that whether I come to see you, or else be absent, I may 
hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one 
mind, striving together, (not apart) for the faith of the gospel.” 

By all that is valuable in the religion of Jesus, by all that 
is lovely in the ties of Christian fellowship, I beseech you to re- 
main united. I repeat it, do not let divisions creep in among 
you after my departure. We have had the advice of a candid, 
judicious, and I trust, pious council, that it was best for us, and 
Zion at large, that we should separate. Our only conclusion 
is, that their decision is the will of God. They prayed much 
for divine direction, before they came to this result. If it is 
viewed by any of you as a judgment, be humble under the af- 
flictive hand of God. Your minister may be removed from 
you, because some of you valued him too much, and others toe 


— 
% 


9 


little. I would say to any who feel a peculiar attachment for 
their retiring Pastor, that the manifestation of their attachment, 
most agreeable to him, will be to love their brethren, and 
strive to promote union. 

- Finally—Dear brethren and sisters, remember me in your 
prayers, that utterance may be given to me in some part of 
God’s vineyard, that I may open my mouth boldly, and make 
known to them the mystery of the gospel. 


PREACHED IN THE 


CHURCH IN BRATTLE SQUARE, 


_ PECEMBER 1, 1838, kid . 
9 Me viernes Ft : ca pi MERE: wes 
Waites 


Meh 4 RE py a ow Lepans 


ro 
Rte 
2 
Pe. 


i Sib ca wee Hie eater eee sp 
.. THE LORD'S DAY AFTER THE DECEASE OF 


se - pt > PEGs 
t ) 


MISS ELIZABETH BOND. 


BY JOHN G. PALFREY. 


ba 


" t 
¥- = ¥ ‘ 


| mere BOSTON: 


NATHAN HALE, 14 WATER STREET. 
? “1833. 


2% ‘ turn 3 
At the Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Church in Brat- 
tle Square, in Boston, holden Tuesday evening, Dec. 3d, 1833: 
Vorzp,—That this Committee, sensibly affected by the dispensation of 
Divine Providence in removing by death one of the younger members of 
the Society, return their thanks to the Reverend Professor PALFREY for the 
appropriate notice which he took of the melancholy event, in his Sermon 
delivered on Lord’s day, December 1st,—and in the belief that his im- 
provement of this distressing bereavement should be eA a the 
benefit of the Society, do respectfully request of him a copy of his ermon 
for the press. wd Serie 
A true copy from the Records. : eee 

' Attest—Ivers J. Austin, Clerk. 

/ ; {iree. “efebtye 

Oh eee vial 

erry 

“ye Tae: 

ety tht 

i> STS 

Be is Sh 

me ae mere 


{ime devod) Melnmoeo re of beevee te eee 


Se Te. » a 


pie, 


alts 


SERMON. 


JOHN XVII. 4. 


= HAVE GLORIFIED THEE ON THE EARTH. I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK 
WHICH THOU GAVEST ME TO DO. 


OF course, no other being upon earth can use this 
language, with a like fulness of meaning to what was 
conveyed in it byour Lord. ‘The difference between 
its force, as employed by him and by others, must 
needs be two-fold. The work, appointed by his Fa- 
ther to be done by him, immeasurably exceeded in 
importance every work which is committed by the 
same universal Disposer to other hands; and he did 
his prescribed task thoroughly, while others, who the 
nearest approach him, at best leave some deficiency 
and imperfection in the accomplishment of theirs.— 
But still the aim to be contemplated by each and 
every one of us,—the object for which God made us 
to live, and the object for which we should desire to 
live,—is exactly described in the same terms,—the 
finishing of the work, greater or less, which God has 
appointed to us respectively to do; and in that sense 
of the words in which they have close interest for us, 
we shall, in the divine estimation, be held to have fin- 
ished that work which we have heartily desired, and 
strenuously endeavoured to accomplish, though not all 


es sere JA)”, 


+ 


the results at which we had been aiming should 
prove to be achieved. 

And then as to defective accomplishment of our 
prescribed task in life, it has not that connexion which 
it may be hastily imagined to have, with a longer or 
shorter duration of life. By one whose years God: 
has lengthened out, the work of a long life is the 
work appointed by him to be done. ‘That of a short 
life, is the work which he has assigned to one recalled | 
in childhood or in youth. If death separates a young 
friend from me, | may mourn his loss greatly on other 
accounts, but not because time has been denied him 
to complete his task. For his time was the very 
measure of his task. I cannot deplore him as having 
been privileged in this respect less than others, I 
cannot admit the idea of any life, in an exact way of 
speaking, being prematurely closed. , Opportunity is 
the eternal limit of responsibleness. “She hath 
done what she could,” the language of our Lord’s 
commendation of Mary, embodies the majestic spir- 
it of the requisitions of his Gospel; and the fair 
form which I lay in the earth in the glory of its spring 
promise, is as ripe for heavenly honours, if the brief 
allotted season have been used as well,—as that 
which has come down to its resting-place bending 
under the venerable decrepitude of a hundred win- 
ters. 

Having my reflections naturally directed to the 
subject, by an event of the week, which has made a 
great impression on the minds, and touched a deep 
chord in the hearts of not a few of us here present, 
young, and middle aged, and old,—l am going, my 


ty 


friends, to present a few thoughts relating to: the 
place of duty assigned by providence, in its universab 
distribution of reascnable and useful service, to young 
persons of the more retired sex;—the task which 
God their Maker sent them here to do ;—the work, 
which God thei Judge will look to them to finish 
before they proceed to those of maturer life, or are 
arrested, should such be their lot, on its threshold. 
I know, that happily the responsibilities and dignity 
of the season of youth are generally better estimated 
and more urgently pressed, in our times, than they 
have been used to being heretofore. But do there 
yet remain no lingering traces of that somewhat ar- 
rogant manly assumption, that, as to men are com- 
mitted. the most prominent trusts of society, the 
minds which are destined to that service are to be 
the great object of the philanthropist’s and patriot’s 
care? I care not to strike that balance, if I might. 
What concerns the individual for time and eternity, 
is, that his own work, whatever it be and of what- 
ever relative consideration, be well performed ; and 
what interests the whole is, not that one or another 
sphere of duty be ascertained to be of primary ac- 
count, but that every sphere be well filled, each sev- 
eral relation conscientiously sustained ; and sure I am 
that that, to which I invite your attention, is perceived 
at once to have a rank in the social system, which 
there is no need to resort to disparaging comparisons 
to establish or to set forth. 

When we speak of the duties of any specified age 
or other condition, it is of course not any such gen- 
eral obligations that we mean to enforce,—belonging 


6 


alike to all conditions,—as those of cultivating and 
developing in all conduct the spirit of christian self 
control, benevolence, and devotion ; but simply of the 
manner in which christian principles are to be applied 
and manifested in the distinguishing occasions of the 
condition in question.—I observe then, first, that, in 
the common course of things, the work given toa 
young female to do, is the blessed one of a good 
daughter.—A good daughter !—there are other min- 
istries of love more conspicuous than hers, but none 
in which a gentler, lovelier spirit dwells, and none 
to which the heart’s warm requitals more joyfully 
respond.— There is no such thing as a comparative 
estimate of a parent’s affection for one or another 
child. There is little which he needs to covet, to 
whom the treasure of a good child has been given. 
But a son’s occupations and pleasures carry him more 
abroad, and he lives more among temptations, which 
hardly permit the affection, that is following him per- 
haps over half the globe, to be wholly unmingled 
with anxiety, till the time when he comes to relin- 
quish the shelter of his father’s roof for one of his 
own. While a good daughter is the steady light of 
her parent’s house. Her idea is indissolubly con- 
nected with that of his happy fireside. She is his 
morning sun-light, and his evening star. The grace, 
and vivacity, and tenderness of her sex have their 
place in the mighty sway which she holds over, his 
spirit. The lessonsof recorded wisdom which he reads 
with her eyes, come to his mind with a new charm 
as they blend with the beloved melody of her voice. 
He scarcely knows weariness which her song does 


Sle 


7 


not make him forget, or gloom which is proof against 
the young brightness of her smile. She is the pride 
and ornament of his hospitality, and the gentle nurse 
of his sickness, and the constant agent in those name- 
less, numberless acts of kindness, which one chiefly 
cares to have rendered because they are unpretending 
but all-expressive proofs of love. And then what a 
cheerful sharer is she, and what an able lightener of 
a mother’s cares! what an ever present delight and 
triumph to a mother’s affection! Oh how little do 
those daughters know of the power which God has 
committed to them, and the happiness God would 
have them enjoy, who do not, every time that a parent’s 
eye rests on them, bring rapture to a parent’s heart. 
A true love will almost certa‘nly always greet their 
approaching steps. ‘That they will hardly alienate. 
But their ambition should be not to have it a love 
merely, which feelings implanted by nature excite, 
but one made intense, and overflowing, by approba- 
tion of worthy conduct; and she is strangely blind to 
her own happiness, as well as undutiful to them to 
whom she owes the most, in whom the perpetual ap- 
peals of parental disinterestedness do not call forth 
the prompt and full echo of filial devotion. 

A sister’s duties, secondly, belong to the place in 
life of which I speak ; and in the daily communica- 
tions of domestic society, what a blessing is a sister’s 
friendship, when it assumes its appropriate charac- 
ter, experienced to be. How much is constantly 
within her power, of all that goes to make home a 
happy place to those who are oljects, with her, of 
the same parental care. As they advance together, 


3 


from infancy to their places of separate service, how 
much of the promise which others put forth, of the 
enjoyment which others experience and impart, of 
the docility which they manifest, and the improve- 
ment which they make, depends on the influence 
which goes forth from her. How large and cher- 
ished a place does a good sister’s love always hold 
in the grateful memory, with which one who has 
been blessed with the benefits of this relation, looks. 
back to the home of his childhood. How many are 
there, who, in the changes of maturer life, have found 
a sister’s love, for themselves and others dearer than 
themselves, their ready and adequate resource. 
With what a sense of security is confidence reposed 
in a good sister, and with what assurance that it will 
be uprightly and considerately given, is her counsel 
sought. How intimate is the friendship between 
such sisters, not widely separated im age from one 
another. Whata reliance for warning, excitement, 
and sympathy, has each secured ineach. How many 
are the brothers, to whom, when thrown into circum- 
stances of temptation, the thought of a sister’s puri- 
ty has been as a constant holy presence, rebuking 
every licentious thought. 1 suppose that among se- 
curing influences exerted from external sources upon 
the minds of young men, there is scarcely any to 
which more importance demands to be attached, than 
to their sense of the worth of a sister’s esteem, their 
desire of gratifying her fond ambition for them, the 
sentiments of delicacy, which are inspired in her so- 
ciety, the taste for other improving society, which is 
there made to grow up, and the facilities for it which 


9 


“she is able to afford. Unpretending to authority, 
and incapable of coercion, a sister’s mild influence 
has all the greater power to soften the harshness of 
a rude character, and to check the excesses of ad- 
venturous or passionate impetuosity. And her unas- 
suming example to the younger members of a house- 
hold,—the example of a somewhat more discreet 
and experienced equal, with interests the same as 
their own, and feelings and views not so dissimilar as 
those of parents are liable to be supposed, with con- 
stant opportunities to insinuate easily her views of 
duty, and recommend them by minute but acceptable 
kindnesses,—possesses a power over those younger 
minds which is all but absolute. No! let not any of 
my young hearers, who are sisters, dream that they 
can be acting on a light responsibility. A serious 
charge has been given them, and serious considera- 
tion becomes them how they shall fulfil the trust. 

I might go on to speak of the duties belonging to 
the relation of friendship, as having a place among 
those of that class of persons to which these remarks 
refer; and certain it is that, in favorable instances, 
that sentiment is known to subsist between them in 
extraordinary constancy, purity, and warmth, and to 
produce, in respect to character, a vast amount of 
mutually beneficial results. But the duties of friend- 
ship between such parties are in no respect different 
from what they are in other instances, nor do any pe- 
culiar considerations belong to the case, adding to, 
or qualifying the statement, that a person of the 
class in question, like other pe sons, in being a good 
friend, makes excellent use of christian principles, 

2 


. = ae ek. on feel 


10 


and becomes a great benefactor.—I proceed therefore 
to speak of duties of the same class, belonging to 
them, in a wider relation, that of members of socie- 
ty. And here the great consideration is one, which 
I thank God many of them do not overlook, though 
possibly some of their number, as well as some who 
are not of their number, may. While other persons 
are members of society for mutual improvement and 
service, they are not members of it merely for their 
own pleasure and display. God forbid that they 
should be, or should be thought to be. No! let them 
seek with a reasonable, and that too they will find the 
most successful aim, to invest themselves with that 
peculiar attractiveness which God has made to be- 
long to their age and sex. It is right and becoming 
that they should do so. But let them not mean- 
while forget that they are exposed, and short-lived, 
and intelligent, and immortal, and accountable be- 
ings as much as any of the rest of us; that, as much 
as any of us, they have solemn duties to do, and 
souls, formed for happiness or misery, to save. I do 
not think, that I am liable here to be misunderstood, 
as if | were an undiscriminating ranter against the 
pleasures of society. There are few things, which 
for myself I like better. The pleasures of society, 
rightly sought and profited by, are the pleasures /of 
taste, and intellect, and benevolence, and these are 
noble parts and prerogatives of our nature. No! as 
much grace, and ease, and accomplishment, and fas- 
cination even, as you will,—the more the better, 
provided better things are not sacrificed in their at- 
tainment or use;—and I do not find that they have 


i i 


Pe 


11 


-commonly the least of them, who have the most of 


what, taken for their basis, gives them a substantial 
worth. But let not any, if any such there should 
ever be, who allow fops and not men or women ‘of 
sense to have the excitement and direction of their 
feeble and worthless ambition,—whose most serious 
comparison of opinions is with their dress-maker,— 
let not any such suppose that they are finishing the 
work which providence has given to them to do. 
Providence has dealt more kindly with them. What 
reason have they to think it so averse as to have 
condemned them alone to such a deplorable condition 
of unprofitableness ? No! if others are bound tobe 
rational, and thoughtful, and useful,—if others are 
invited to be happy, so are they. If others are able 
to go into society to improve and purify while they 
grace it, so, with the proper pains, are they in their 
measure,—and their measure is an ample one ; for 
the very attractions, the sense of which, if they are 
light-minded, may bewilder them,—give them a vast 
power to influence the tastes, and sentiments, and 
characters of the other sex. Here is a trust of very 
serious magnitude. The moral influence, which by 
favor of the interest it excites, the female mind, duly 
enlightened and conscientious, may exert in a com- 
munity over those whose characters are fixing, and 
who are presently to have the direction of its affairs, 
is altogether beyond estimation. Does the . task, 
again, appointed to others, comprehend duties of good 
neighborhood and charity, and services to the faith of 
Christ in various forms of good word or work, as op- 
portunity permits or guides, so does the task. ap- 


12 
pointed to them. That is all an error, which they 


have sometimes seemed to assume for truth, They 
have no mark set upon them as incapable and worth- 
less exempts from honorable and happy duty. But, 
on the contrary, in devotion to it, they become pecu-» 
liarly efficient and blessed agents of the divine good- 
ness, and they find for themselves the happiness, 
which, sought in any other path, will prove a phan- 
tom, forever flitting before their vision, and ware: 
their grasp. 

It is plain that the remarks, which I have been mak- 
ing, would be irrelevant in the connexion in which | 
introduced them, if I did not conceive that the lead- 
ing traits of the character, of which a feeble sketch has 
been given, were to be recognized in the young  per- 
son whose recent departure has called forth such an 
uncommon expression of public feeling, im tokens of 
cordial respect for her memory, and sympathy with 
her afflicted friends. If I present an example to the 
imitation of others similarly circumstanced, as I freely 
profess to have been doing, it is not in the way of 
presuming that it may have been faultless. I never 
knew one which was so,—and if we must wait till 
we could find such an one, all the benefit of such im- 
pulse as example is capable of affording, would be 
lost. Nor do I undertake to single out this as more 
complete than others. Far be the arrogance of such 
a discrimination from me. The belief that there were 
many such would be a very grateful one. But to 
cause an example to be produced to the best advantage, 
it must be conspicuous as well as worthy. It would 
be to less purpose for me to adduce it, however ex- 


> ‘een + —-—,. 


13 


cellent and admirable, had it been witnessed only by 
myself or a few whom | was addressing, leaving the 
accuracy of the representation to be taken upon trust. 
But I have felt called upon to present it with distinct- 
ness, because it by no means often happens that the 
character of a young woman, possessing that delicate 
modesty without which the example would be wanting 
ina chief grace, is, through favouring circumstances, 
known and estimated by so many ; and the very in- 
teresting event of the first inroad made by death upon 
the number of those who are carrying on that excel- 
lent work of christian usefulness, the management of 
our Sunday School, demands its own special notice. 
There are very many volumes which contain much 
less meaning than the single sentence, which records 
that a young spirit, after beautifully finishing the work 
of a daughter, sister, friend, and christian benefactor, 
has gone to its reward ; and the bright image of the 
course which has been run, demands to be held up 
to close and steady view, before, in any memory 
which recognizes the likeness, time shall have obscur- 
ed any of its lines.* 

We naturally give the name of a mystery to the 
early removal of one, before whom life seemed all to 
lie a sunny scene of enjoyment, christian duty, and 
genuine honor. And certainly the greatest of all 
mysteries would it be, if, inthe providence of him who 


* What was written of the sermon ends here. When I was desired by 
the Society’s Committee to print it, my remembrance of the concluding 
part was imperfect. I have recovered the train of remark as well as I 
could, making a connexion wherever I could not recollect what had been 
used. 


>.s” pe fe ora ee a ,. 


14 


has all worlds for the sphere of his administration 

and al] ages for the development of his plans, events 
did not occur, which refused to reveal their reasons of 
infinite wisdom and love to us who ‘are but of yes- 
terday, and know nothing.” But upon the else dark 
paths of God’s government, the light of his word, ac- 
quainting us with the principles of that government, 
has been made to shine; and as often as we have ob- 
served a happy consequence to follow upon any of 
the gloomiest of his appointments, we have detected 
one reason, for which, in his parental goodness, he 
suffered them to befall. ‘The Father of Spirits “doth 
not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men,” 
but “for their profit,”—and the profit, let us add, of 
all who witness and feel for their grief,—‘ that. they 
may be partakers of his holiness.” “By the sadness 
of the countenance, the heart is made better,” and 
the sadness which is made to overspread many coun- 
tenances, is meant to sanctify many hearts. ‘‘ None 
of us liveth to himself,” and if dispensations, which 
fill our breasts with sofrow, have at the same time 
the effect of extensively impressing profitable lessons 
of truth and duty, then we have found a use for 
which a good God designed them. ‘No man dieth 
to himself.” And when we call to mind that the 
more important and valued the life which has been 
closed, and the more unlooked for the fatal blow, the 
stronger too has been the feeling called forth, and the 
impression made the more extensive, serious, and im- 
proving,—when we perceive, that what we, have 
called the mysterious dealing of the divine Arbiter 
with one, is capable of such a relation to the bestin- 


15 


terests of numbers, we can no longer say that we are 
without a clue to the elucidation of his purposes. 

I trust, my hearers, that there are those of us who 
mtend thus far to qualify the meaning, with which 
we call that under our notice, an inscrutable event. 
I trust we do not intend to allow the true feeling, 
which to-day possesses us, to begin and end in fruit- 
less sorrow, or natural sympathy. Children of this 
society! I should do great violence to my own feel- 
ings, as well as appear insensible, which it is impos- 
sible that I should be, to the special interest of the 
occasion, if I did not try to say, ina few friendly 
words, how affectingly it addresses you. Fifteen 
years ago, when i came hither, our sister was a little 
playful child, with a character as much in its ele- 
ment,—at all events, as little tried,—as that of 
almost any of yourselves ;—and now she has gone 
down in her youth to an honored grave, and the tears 
which have been rained over that grave, were tears 
of proud and satisfied affection; and as, from one 
spring to another, the steps of mourners will turn 
towards it, their hearts will swell with a grateful 
blessing to God, that the image, which always dwells 
freshly there, is the image of a life well devoted to 
life’s best objects. For that it is, and nothing else, 
which has given so profound an interest to so brief 
and uneventful a history. That it is, which gave to 
a life so short, a termination which you have seen to 
be so lamented ;—that it is, which gives to the 
memory of that life the place of affectionate venera- 
tion, which you have found to be held by it in many 
hearts. The tribute is not to the possession of ad- 


al ‘qh pee © 
a , : 
ad wes ae 


16 


vantages, im possessing which, the departed was dis- 
tinguished from any of you, but simply to christian 
excellence exhibited in her, which all/ef you may 
emulate. She was thus prized, and is thus mourn- 
ed, because she was a good child; a good sister; a 
good friend, in one sense to those who: were privi- 
leged by her intimacy, and in another, to all whom 
she could serve ; and she was all these, because she 
was a good christian. It was the loveliness of the 
spirit of the Gospel of Jesus, which shone out in her 
life, and is a halo around her blessed memory. Be- 
eause she could say, “I fear the Lord from my 
youth,” therefore it now remains to be said of her, 
with such a strong conviction of extraordinary appro- 
priateness in the words, that she 


“Ne’er knew joy, but friendship might divide, 
Nor gave her parents pain, but when she died.” 


You, too, my young friends, desire to make the hap- 
piness of those to whom you are dear while you live, 
and to leave them consolation when you die, if, in 
the reversal of what we call the order of nature, they 
should come to need such a resource. There is one 
way, in which you can accomplish that wish. It is 
by walking in that path of religious wisdom, which 
is for yourselves too, the only path of pleasantness 
and peace. It is by cultivating that fear of God, 
which to the youngest is the simple beginning of 
wisdom, and to the oldest, its consummation and 
crown, as the truly wise uniformly own. ft 
Parents! it cannot be but that, reflecting on our 
relation, we sometimes think of the need, which, in 


an 


17 


one or the other form, we must sooner or later expe- 
rience ; either the need, summoned to resign the ob- 
jects of our love, of some support under: that be- 
reavement, or else,—leaving them ourselves to the 
chances of the world—of an assurance that their lives, 
when we are no longer near to guide them, will be 
worthy and happy lives. That cénsolation or secu- 
rity, whichever the need may prove, it belongs to us 
to be even now providing ; and—true in our exertions 
to the greatness of the object,—we are able, with 
God’s blessing, richly to provide it. The provision 
will cost pains, but it will reward them. Rear up 
our children “in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord,”—teach them in all things to “ remember their 
Creator in the days of their youth,”—and then we 
shall find availing comforts present with us after the 
bitter moment when we have closed their eyes, or 
shall commend them without anxiety to the blessing 
of him, whom we have served together, in the last 
prayer which breaks the silence of our own chamber 
of death. 

The young persons of this congregation, who 
mourn a greatly valued associate, in that excellent 
office of religious instruction to which I have referred, 
and others who have sympathized with her in the 
persuasion, that happiness is to be found in christian 
duty, true honor in christian usefulness, perceive 
themselves to be addressed with a peculiarly touching 
notice of the necessity of that religious preparation 
for life or death, at which they are aiming; and they 
feel with peculiar sensibility the attractiveness of 
that eminent example of the religious character in 

3 


18 


youth, which, lately before them in active and happy 


life, they are henceforward to contemplate only in 
respectful memory. Those of you, my friends, who 
have communed with the departed, in counsels, 
prayers; and efforts for the building up of Christ’s 
kingdom in those minds of which he himself said, 
' “of such is the kingdom of heaven,” grateful, as 1 
am sure you are, for the privileges of that commu- 
nion, and for those of its influences upon yourselves, 
which no separation from one another, of those whom 
it has united, can destroy, will own yourselves to be 
strongly called on, by this sad proof of the insecurity 
of earthly hopes, to secure seasonably and amply 
that better part, which never can be taken away 


from you. And all, I trust, who have been growing’ 


up together here from infancy, till they have come to 
step upon the threshold of active life, will be prompted 
to ask themselves the question, whether, while some 


have, through these all-important years, been walk- 


ing “in wisdom, redeeming the time,” the same js to 
be said of them; whether the influences, under which 
the services of this place of their united devotions, 
combined with other agencies in the providence and 
grace of God, should have brought them, have been 
and are in action on their hearts. Has your 
course, too,—let me be permitted to inquire of each 
young hearer, whose steps here have been side by 
side with the departed,—has your course too been 
such, in these precious years, as to entitle you in some 
degree, to the testimony of conscience, that you have 
finished the work given you thus far to do? You 
have had the same time, which has been so profitably 


2. 


fr 


19 


used. Have you, too, been mindful to employ it 
well? If so, greatly happy are you in the enjoyment 
of that reflection. If not, happy are you, that your 
day and means of grace are not yet withdrawn; and 
be conjured not to delay an hour to put them to the 
indispensable uses of repentance for the past, and 
resolutions of a new life for the future. 

Citizens of this community! greatly blessed are 
you, rich cause have you for gratitude to God, that 
you live and bring up your children where the sense 
of the worth of youthful excellence, and the standard 
of youthful character, are so high; where truly 
estimable qualities in the young are what above all 
things attract esteem and consideration, and the loss 
of one eminently their possessor, is feelingly owned 
to be a public calamity. Such sentiments are not 
more honorable to their object, than auspicious to 
the best good of those who entertain them. Assured- 
ly, my friends, there is no care by which you can 
more promote the common good, than by endeav- 
ours to maintain this sense of character among the 
young, as far as it is already correct and high, and to 
advance it to astill further justness and elevation. 

“‘T have finished the work thou hast given me 
to do.” Yes! in one sense the work is finished. 
Morning will rise and evening gather its shadows 
over that new made grave, but the one will not dis- 
turb, and the other will not compose the peaceful 
sleeper. Evening will no longer send her from the 
happy fireside to the quiet slumbers of an unburdened 
conscience. Morning will not call her back to the 
tasks of filial, sisterly, and Christian love. But how 


YF. ‘ * 
5 
- 


20 iW ais ten cate 
speak we of the work of a good life being finished ? 
She of whom we have used the words, now looks 
back upon what we call death, and knows it to be 
only, to use the language of a kindred spirit, “ an in- 
cident in life.” Earth has no mounds to confine the 
soul. The sentence is, that ‘‘ the dust shall return to 
the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God 
who gave it.” ‘The spirit has already gone to higher, 
more unembarrassed, more intense, more joyful life. 
The voice, which, on the wings of its soul-harmony, 
has so often lifted our devotions here to the sphere to 
which it seemed to belong, is already, we trust, lend- 
ing its rich and volumed sweetness to swell the an- 
themof the redeemed ‘I heard a voice from heaven, 
saying unto me ;—Blessed are the dead. which die in 
the Lord. Yea, saith the spirit, for they rest from their 
labors, and their works do follow them.” “They 
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither 
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the 
Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall lead 
them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall 
wipe away all tears. from their eyes.” 


SERMON 


ON THE 


NATURE AND INFLUENCE 


OF FAITE | 


By LEONARD WOODS, D. D. 


Abbot Professor of Christian Theology in the Theo]. Seminary, Andover. 


ANDOVER: 
PRINTED BY FLAGG AND GOULD. 


1826. 


Pps; 
fat ene 
fat ivi; 
Rsat if 


SERMON, 


Hebrews x1. 1. 


NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE 
é EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. 


Axrnovex the nature of faith seems to be very simple 
and obvious, and the language of the inspired writers respecting 
it very intelligible ; there is perhaps no subject, which has been 
more perplexing to the minds of men, or on which they have 
entertained more obscure and erroneous conceptions. This is 
indeed a deplorable fact; and before entering on my princi- 
pal subject, I wish, as far as I am able, satisfactorily to account 
for it ; which I shall attempt to do by the following considerations. 

1. The objects of faith are remote from the province of our 
senses. Our earliest attention is directed to the present world. 
We form a habit of looking at the things which are seen. To 
this habit we are led, as the creatures of sense. When there- 
fore we attempt to get right views of faith, we are under the 
necessity of casting off the dominion of our early habits ;. of 
counteracting the influence of things temporal; of breaking 
away from the enchantments of sense, and turning the current 
of our thoughts and feelings into a new channel. No person, 
- who has in earnest attempted this, needs to be told with what 
difficulties it is attended. 

2. Another thing, which renders it difficult for us to get 
clear and operative views of faith, is, that the language which 


+t 


describes it has been so often heard and spoken by us, without 
any correspondent conceptions or feelings. ‘This custom of - 
speaking or hearing the words of inspiration, and of Christiari 
piety, without the conceptions which those words ought to ex- 
cite, creates a new difficulty. For whenever that language is 
repeated, the mind is apt to lie in the same listless state, as for- 
merly. We find it hard to bring ourselves to attend in earnest 
to a subject, which has often passed before us without exciting 
attention. 

3. It is still more to the purpose to observe, that such is the 
nature of faith, that it cannot be rightly apprehended, without be- 
ing experienced and felt. Christian faith does not consist chief- 
ly in a speculative discernment of external objects. It is, in a 
great measure, a matter of affection. But how can an affection 
be properly known, except by those who have been the subjects 
of it? And even as to real believers, faith exists in them in so 
low a degree, that they are exposed to something of the same 
difficulty. For how can they form lucid conceptions of that, 
which operates in their own minds so feebly, that it is hardly 
visible P—But . 

4. It is most of all important to observe, that right appre- 
hensions of faith are prevented, and mistaken apprehensions oc- 
casioned, by the prevalence of passions opposed to faith. The 
corrupt affections of the heart render us blind to spiritual, holy 
objects. ‘They not only prevent us from exercising faith, but 
make us averse to perceive what it is; because such perception 
would lead to self-reproof and self-condemnation. In this ease, 
it is eminently true, that the natural man discerneth not the things 
of the Spirit ; for they are foolishness to him ; neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And just 
so far as sinful affection prevails in Christians, it hinders spiri- 
tual discernment as réally, as in the impenitent. 

Such causes as these are sufficient to account for the ob- 


5 


scure and erroneous views, which are commonly entertained of 
faith, and for the peculiar difficulty which attends all our efforts 
to make it well understood. 

After these preliminary observations, permit me to call your 
attention directly to the subject introduced by the text. Faith 
as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not 
seen. I shall avail myself particularly of this text, and of the 
chapter which contains it, in executing my present design ; which 
is, to wlustrate the nature and practical influence of faith. 

The brief description here given of faith is this. Jt is the 
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 
The original word, vnoozaovs, rendered substance, primarily sig- 
nifies a pillar or basis, on which any thing is firmly supported, 
so that it cannot be moved aside or fall. Nearly allied to this 
is the metaphorical sense ; that is, firm trust, or confidence, a cer- 
tain, unshaken hope, or expectation, on which, as a basis, the mind 
rests and is supported. Faith is as full a persuasion of those 
things which God has revealed, as can in other things be pro- 
duced by the evidence of our senses. It gives present subsis- 
tence and reality to the objects of hope. 

Faith is also the evidence of things not seen. Itis, as edeyyos, 
the original word, signifies, a proof or demonstration made by 
certain evidence. Or rather, as it is here used, it is the effect 
produced in the mind by evidence; the full persuasion which 
results from the most satisfactory proof. 

You will perceive that the faith here spoken of, respects not 
only the future good, which is made known by the promises of 
God, and is the proper object of hope, but other invisible things, 
even things past, which God has in one way or another made 
known to us. It is remarkable, that the very first instance of 
faith, here mentioned by the Apostle, relates to past events. 
Through faith we understand that the worlds were made by the 
word of God. 


6 


The foundation of faith is the moral perfection of God, par- 
ticularly his veracity. The understanding of God is infinite ; 
therefore he cannot mistake. God is infinitely holy and good ; 
and therefore he cannot lie. In the exercise of faith, we fix 
our eye upon a Being of absolute perfection. Whatever such 
a Being declares, we know must be truth. In this general view, 
faith seems to have as real a concern with the manifestations 
which God makes in his works, as with the declarations of his 
word. When we observe the works of God in creation and 
providence, we believe that the manifestations he there makes, 
and the instructions he gives, are true. We know that a Being 
of perfect moral excellence will no more deceive us by the as- 
pect of his countenance, or by the motion of his hand, or by the 
characters which his finger inscribes on his works, than oy the 
words which he utters. 

It is evident that the foundation of religious faith is vastly 
more sure, than human belief in any other instance. ~Does our 
belief rest on the opinion or the testimony of man? Man may 
be mistaken, or may deceive. Does it rest on the deductions 
of reason? ‘Those deductions may be fallacious. But the 


word of the Lorp is infallible truth; and so it becomes the 


foundation of the most confident faith. 

The foundation of religious faith, I have said, must be the 
word of God. It must be a declaration, for the truth of which 
the honor of God is pledged. This declaration may, howev- 
er, be conveyed to us by human testimony. For example; we 
are informed by John Baptist, and by the Apostles, that God 
uttered a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son in 
whom I am well pleased. This declaration is the subject of re- 
ligious faith, because, by means of credible witnesses, we come 
to know that it was the declaration of God. Having satisfacto- 
ry evidence that God declared this truth, we believe it on the 
ground of his veracity. In whatever way a declaration of God 


~ 


7 


is conveyed to us, our faith in it rests ultimately upon his verac- 
ity. This would be perfectly obvious, if we should ourselves 
hear. the divine declaration; that is, if the divine declaration 
should be conveyed to us through the medium of our own sen- 
ses. And why not, if the same declaration is conveyed to us 
through the undoubted testimony of others? In both cases, we 
are first satisfied that God made the declaration. We then be- 
lieve it. with a faith which rests on his veracity. Suppose we 
become acquainted with a doctrine declared by Socrates, Au- 
gustine, or Newton. It is what a man declares ; a man not di- 
vinely inspired ; a man, not God. Now do we believe it, be- 
cause it is declared by such an one? No. .We look for other 
evidence. But looking for other evidence shows, that we have 
not perfect confidence in him who makes the declaration. 

As the word of God, or the veracity of God in his word, 
is the ultimate ground of religious faith ; so the word of God, or 
divine revelation, is ¢he rule of faith. If in any respect whatever 
we believe differently from the word of God; we depart from 


‘the rule, and our faith is, in that respect, erroneous. If we be- 


lieve less than what God reveals, our faith is defective ; if more, 
it has a faulty redundance. The only way to have our faith 
right, is to conform wt exactly to the rule of God’s word ; taking 
care, first, to understand the rule correctly, that our faith may 
not bend to the one side or the other; secondly, to understand 
it fully, that our faith may not fall short ; thirdly, to restrain the 
lofty aspirings of reason, and the surmises of curiosity, and to 
be entirely content with the rule, so that our faith may not over- 
leap its bounds. 

Before,we touch upon the moral tendency, or the practical 
influence of faith, it is of material importance to observe, that it 
implies a right temper of heart ; in other words, that it implies 
affections correspondent to the nature of its various objects. | It 
is generally the manner of Scripture expressly to désignate the 


8 


particular external action, or the action of the understanding, 
which is required, and that only, upon the reasonable supposition 
of its being always attended with suitable feelings. ‘Intelligent 
creatures, possessed, as we are, of a moral nature, must under- 
stand, that moral affection is to accompany every act of obedi- 
ence, and that without it, no act of obedience can be accepta-. 
ble to him, who is the Searcher and Sovereign of the heart. 
To require the action is, by manifest implication, to require 
a corresponding state of the heart. And when the action is 
recorded as having been performed, it is understood that the 
heart accompanied it. God requires us to call upon his name. 
This, considered literally and simply, is an outward act,—an 
outward act merely. But this is not the sense in which it is re- 
quired. It is required, as an expression of the heart; the heart 
being understood not only to agree with the devout words ut- 
tered by the voice, but to prompt those words. So when the 
Evangelist gives an account of the great farth of the centurion, 
he simply relates his words and external actions. Every body 
understands, without being expressly informed, that those words 
and actions were indicative of correspondent feelings. Unless 
understood in this manner, the narrative amounts to nothing. 
The principle I have laid down is obviously applicable to 
every thing, which is spoken of in Scripture, as a matter of mor- 


al obligation ; every thing which relates to man, as a moral agent. 


If the obligation respects him, as a moral agent; then the per- 
formance of the duty required includes the action of the whole 
man, so far as he is of a moral nature. For example; God 
says to us, “hear my word ;” hear it. But the duty enjoined 
is not hearing with the ear merely, the heart being disobedient ; 
but hearing with a right disposition, and right conduct. Again. 
Christ requires us fo receive the sacramental bread and wine im 
remembrance of him. But merely the outward act of recewing 
and the exercise of memory do not constitute the duty enjoined. 


9 


The outward act and the exercise of “memory must be accom- 
panied with affections suitable to the nature of what is commem- 
orated. So all Christians understand it. So every thing of the 
kind must be understood. And while we have conscience and 
moral affection, and remember that we are under a moral gov- 
ernment, we certainly shall so understand it, whether we are 
expressly told that we must, or not. 

I repeat the position, as of primary importance, that when- 
ever faith is spoken of as a moral virtue, or with regard to its 
moral influence, we must consider it, as implying affections of 
heart correspondent to the nature of those objects which it respects. 
Such affections must accompany it, and make a part of it, et, 
in the Scripture sense, it is not faith. 

When I say that faith implies affections corresponding with 
its various objects, it is the same as saying, that faith assumes a 
character according to the nature of its particular objects. If it 
relates to an object great and awful, it is accompanied with rev- 
erence and awe ; if to an object that is amiable, it is accompa- 
nied with love; if to a future or absent good, with desire; if 
to something hateful, with abhorrence ; if to something injurious 
or dreadful, with fear or dread. Thus faith may be said to re- 
vere, to love, to desire, to hate, or to dread, just according to 
the nature of its particular object. 


We shall now proceed to consider the practical influence of 
faith. And before we have done, I think it will be apparent, 
not only that the influence of faith is very great, but that it re- 
sults directly from the peculiar nature, which hasnow been rep- 
resented as belonging to it. 

In the word of God we find the most important effects at- 
tributed to faxth. It is represented as having an efficacy, which 
moves all the springs of action, and controls the whole man. 


Now a little consideration must satisfy us, that it is perfectly suit- 
(9) 


“~ 


10 


ed to produce this mighty effect. For, in truth, what is there 
in the universe, suited to influence the mind or control the ac- 
tions of man, which does not belong to faith. ‘Those things 
which God has made known in his word, and which are the ob- 
jects of faith, are of the highest conceivable moment. Indeed 
they have an importance infinitely above our: comprehension. 
God has set before us a great and endless good to be obtained ; 
a great and endless evil to be avoided. And he has set these 
before us in all the forms, which are adapted to rouse the affec- 
tions and the efforts of man. Do any of you say, that the end- 
less good and the endless evil which God has revealed, come 
not under our observation; and. then ask, how the existence of 
such things can certainly be known? My answer is, Thus 
saith the Lord. This is the best of all evidence. Other things 
may deceive me. But God cannot lie. I am sure what He 
says is truth. Or do you say, that the things which God has 
declared in his word, being invisible and distant, cannot excite 
any strong emotion, or any powerful effort? This, I admit, is 
true with regard to those who are governed by sense. But it 
is the very nature of faith to give an uncontrollable efficacy to 
objects invisible and distant. All must allow that the things’ 
which God has revealed must have a mighty influence upon us, 
if they were actually visible and present. To faith they are vis- 
ible. To faith they are present too. Faith removes the dis- 
tance ; and makes them present realities. So that things which 
are not seen, and things which are to take place thousands of 
ages hence, excite the same emotions, and have the same prac- 
tical influence, as though they were actually visible, and actually 
present. In the exercise of faith, we say of unseen and future 
things ; they are absolutely certain, because God has declared 
them. They are equally interesting to us, asif they were pres- 
ent; for they will be present; and we shall experience them 
and feel them, when happiness will be as dear to us, and misery 


11 


as dreadful, as they are now. They deserve our regard, there- 
fore, just as though they were present. So that, if the glorious 
excellencies of God, and the employments and pleasures of 
heaven are sufficient to move the hearts and govern the actions of 
saints and angels who are now there, they are sufficient to move 
and govern us. If the transactions of the judgment day, if the 
glorious appearing of the Lord from heaven, the assembling of 
the universe before him, the disclosure of the secrets of all 


hearts, the final sentence, the blessedness of the righteous, and 


the horror and despair of the wicked, will be sufficient to arrest 
the attention, and touch the feelings, and move all the active 
powers of those who will be present on that momentous occa- 
sion ; they are sufficient to arrest owr attention, to touch our feel- 
ings, and move all our powers of action now. And just so far as 
we have faith, they will do it. Men generally look at things which 
are seen. Sensible objects govern their affections, and limit the 
sphere of their observation. But faith shifts the scene., As to 
the grand, governing objects of the human mind, and the mo- 
tives to action, it puts them ina new world. It spreads a shroud 


over the things of time and sense, and opens to view things un- 


seen and eternal. 


I am now to illustrate the practical influence of faith; and 
this I shall do by bringing into view various instances of it men- 
tioned in the context, and in other parts of Scripture. 

Through faith, says the Apostle, we understand that the 
worlds were made by the word of God. It is through faith, be- 
cause we have an understanding of it merely by believing the 
testimony of God respecting it, which is contained in the Scrip- 
tures. ain 4 

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
than Cain. Abel cordially believed what God had said con- 
cerning the Seed of the woman.. He listened to the appoint- 


‘ 


12 


ment of sacrifices, which were doubtless intended to represent 
the future atonement. And according to the divine direction, 
and with correspondent feelings, he offered a sin-offering. 
Whereupon God gave him a testimony, that his offermg was ac- 
cepted. Cain’s offering was faulty, because he wanted faith; 
i.e. because he did not cordially believe the promise of God, 
nor render sincere obedience to his appointment. 

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death. 
Enoch walked with God. He was habitually sensible of his 
presence, confided in his promise, and looked at eternal things. 
Such was the operation of his faith. God rewarded his faith by 
taking him immediately to heaven, without his seeing death. 
Thus he obtained his translation by faath. 

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as 
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark. Here the nature of faith 
begins io appear still more clearly. God said, the end of all 
flesh is come ; behold I will destroy them with the earth. He then 
gave command to Noah to make an ark. ‘Though the destruc- 
tion of the world by a deluge was a thing which no one had ev- 
er seen or heard of before; Noah cordially believed that word 
of God which asserted it. In his view, God’s saying it made it 
a certainty. He had no more doubt of it, than he had after it 
had rained forty days and forty nights. ‘Thus he prepared an 
ark by faith, or inconsequence of farth ; that is, in consequence 
of his confidently believing what God had declared. Had he 
not believed the declaration of God, he would not have done 
this. 

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place 
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he 
went out, not knowing whither he went. God commanded 
Abraham to go out of his country unto another land, and prom- 
ised to make of him a great nation. Abraham had perfect con- 
fidence in God, and so looked upon the thing which he promis- « 


13 


ed, as absolutely certain. This perfectly accounts for his leav- 
ing his kindred, and going out he knew not whither. Simple, 
childlike faith in God was the principle of his conduct. 

The writer, v. 17,-clearly exhibits his idea of faith with re- 
spect to those servants of God whom he had just mentioned. 
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, (that is, 
the good things contained in the promises,) but having seen them 
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them. God 
had at different times, promised them everlasting blessmgs in 
the world to come. ‘These promises they fully believed, and 
confidently expected the blessings promised. ‘They anticipated 
those blessings with so strong a desire, and so lively a persua- 
sion of their reality, that they may be said to have already em- 
braced them, and begun to enjoy them. Now all this excite- 
ment of their feelings, and the conduct which flowed from it, 
was the effect of their cordially believing the promises of God, 
and with perfect assurance expecting their accomplishment. 

The nature and influence of faith appeared eminently in the 
conduct of Abraham respecting Isaac. God had promised that 
in Isaac his seed should be called, and all the families of the earth 
blessed. On Isaac every thing seemed to depend. If Isaac 
should die, what would become of the divine promises? What 
would become of the calling of Abraham’s seed, and the’ bless- 
ing which was to come upon all nations? Yet Abraham had 
such a belief, so lively and certain a persuasion, that God was 
true, and would accomplish his word, that he hesitated not, 
when commanded, to sacrifice his son Isaac. Why was not 
Abraham agitated and perplexed with the difficulties, which at- 
tended that distressing affair? Why was he not pressed with 
the various objections which might be urged against the sacrifice 
of Isaac? Simply, because he had faith. Faith in God an- 
swered all objections ; relieved all difficulties. It was enough 
for Abraham, that God had promised. But how would it be 


14 


possible for God to fulfil his promise, if Isaac should be slain ? 
With such a question as this, Abraham gave himself no concern. 
He knew that God had an unfailing resource in himself; that he 
could do any thing which the case required ; that he could, if 
necessary, even raise Isaac from the dead ; though the idea of 
a resurrection from the dead was probably a suggestion of Abra- 
ham’s strong faith, as no such event had ever taken. place. 
Thus the main-spring of action in this whole affair, was that 
faith, which is a full confidence in the word of God, and a cer- 
tain, lively expectation that it will be accomplished, whatever 
difficulties may stand in the way. 

Joseph, at the close of his life, made mention of the depar- 
ture of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and commanded 
that his bones should be carried with them into Canaan, by 
faith; that is, because he believed the promise of God respect- 
ing the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and looked up- 
on that ‘departure, as a reality, a matter of fact,—just as we do 
now. 
We have an account too of the faith of Moses. He believ- 
ed the promises of God respecting the deliverance of the Israel- 
ites, and the everlasting blessings to be conferred on-the faith- 
ful in another world. He chose, therefore, to have his lot with 
his suffering brethren, how much soever it might cost him. 
The good, which the sure promise of God led him to expect, 
was, he well knew, infinitely better than all the treasures of 
Egypt, and infinitely more than ‘an overbalance for all the suf- 
ferings to which he might be exposed. He endured as seeing 
the invisible God, from whom he expected support and deliv- 
erance. 

At the close of this interesting account, the inspired writer 
gives a summary description of the efficacy of faith in various 
other instances, in the following sublime and moving strain. 

‘What shall I say more ? For the time would fail me to tell 


15 


of Gideon and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David, 
and Samuel, and the prophets; who through faith,” that is, an- 
imated and borne on by unwavering confidence mm God, “ sub- 
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stop- 
ped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped 
the. edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, wax- 
ed valiant in fight, put to flight the armies of the aliens. Wo- 
men received their dead, raised to life again; and others were 
tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a 
better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and 
scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They 
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain 
with the sword ; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat- 
skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.” What the ser- 
vants of God did and suffered in all these cases was, by faith. 
They believed the word of God. They were sensible of his 
presence. ‘They sought and expected the blessings he had 
promised. ‘They acted with a view to those blessings, and by 
anticipation lived upon them. God’s everlasting kingdom con- 
tained a blessedness so great and precious, that it roused all 
their desires, and all their efforts ; and in pursuit of it hardships 
and sufferings became light, and the most painful enterprises 
easy and delightful. Such was the power of faith. 

The chapter to which we have now attended contains, as we 
have seen, a particular description of the influence of faith,—a 
description which is very intelligible and impressive, and which 
can hardly fail to satisfy any attentive reader, as to the exact 
view which the writer entertained of his subject. 

But to cast a still clearer light on this subject, and to illus- 
trate the perfect agreement of the inspired writers respecting it, 
I shall show that faith, in other prominent instances, must be con- 
sidered as having the same nature, and that its influence is to be 
accounted for in the same manner. 


16 


2 Cor. 5: 7. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is 
here represented as the essential principle of the Christian life. 
And what this faith is, we readily learn from the connexion. 
We walk,—not by sight. That is, we are not influenced in our 
conduct by a regard to the things which are seen. But we 
walk by faith ; we look at the things which are not seen ; weare 
influenced by a regard to spiritual, eternal objects. And how 

_are those unseen, spiritual objects made known, but by the word 
of God? And how do we look at them, or regard them, so as 
to be influenced by them, but by faith ; that is, by cordially be- 
lieving the word of God? 

James 1:6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 
The faith to be exercised in prayer, is here put in opposition to 
a doubtful, wavering mind, and so must imply a cordial, settled 
belief in the doctrines and promises of God’s word. 

In Acts 15 : 9, Peter represents, that God purified the hearts 
of Gentile converts, by faith ; that is, by a steady, cordial be- 
lief in the truths of the Gospel; or which is the same thing, by 
a steady, cordial regard to those invisible, bijeine = things, which 
the word of God reveals. 

_ Some men appear to think that there is stile in evan- 
gelical faith, or faith in Christ, essentially different from other 
kinds of faith; and that the account, which I have given of the 
nature and influence of faith generally, cannot be received as 
in any measure satisfactory in relation to this particular instance 
of it. How far such an opinion has any adequate support, a 
careful attention to the subject will quickly show. 

Faith I have represented to be a firm, cordial belief in the 
veracity of God, in all the declarations of his word ; or, a full 
and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those things which 
God has declared, and because he has declared them. What- 
ever may be the divine testimony, and ‘to whatever object it 
may relate, faith receives it, and rests upon it. This is its gen- 


17 


eralnature. That most important branch of faith, called Evan- 
gelical faith, differs from other instances of faith only in regard 
to object. The testimony of God, which evangelical faith re- 
ceives, respects the Saviour. If then you would know what 
faith in Christ is, in distinction from other exercises of faith ; 
inquire, what is the testimony of God concerning his Son? 
What does the Scripture say of his character, his works, his in- 
structions, his atonement, his various offices and blessings? 
This testimony respecting Christ is just what faith receives. 
Determine precisely what this testimony is, and you determine 
the peculiar character of evangelical faith. 

And here we shall readily see how it comes to pass that faith 
in Christ so often has the sense of affectionate trust, or affiance ? 
The object, which the word of God, in this case reveals, 
and which evangelical faith respects, is obviously, and in the 
highest degree, worthy of such trust. He is infinitely wise, 
benevolent, and powerful, and therefore deserves to be trusted 
by all intelligent beings. THe is a glorious, all-sufficient Sa- 
vious, and therefore deserves to be trusted in by sinners. Cor- 
dial affiance, or trust, is the very disposition in us, which is 
agreeable to the character and offices of Christ. To admit 
that there is such a Saviour, and yet to repose no affectionate 
trust in him, would be a shocking and most criminal inconsisten- 
cy. Accordingly, this affectionate trust, which always accom- 
panies faith when such is its object, becomes frequently the 
principal thing signified by the word. 

By this principle, you may easily trace out the particular 
senses, in which the word, faith, is used in various other pas- 
sages of Scripture. First, see what is the nature of the object, 
to which faith has respect in the particular case to be consider- 
ed. Then see what is the temper of mind with which we ought 
to contemplate that object ; or what is the effect it ought to pro- — 
duce upon us, That feciRer of mind, that proper effect of faith 


18 

may become the chief thing intended by the writer who uses the 
word. In some passages, for example, faith is obviously used, 
as Schleusner and others remark, for conversion to Christian- 
aty ; because such conversion is the proper consequence of be- 
lieving the truths of the Gospel ; whereas if a man should be- 
lieve those truths, and yet not turn from his sins, he would be 
guilty of doing violence to his own reason. In other places, faith 
seems to denote obedience ; manifestly, because. faith respects 
Christ, as a righteous Lawgiver and Ruler, and so directly leads 
to obedience ; and a man who should believe Christ to be such 
a Lawgiver and Ruler, and yet should not obey him, would act 
most inconsistently and perversely. 


The practical results of the view which has now been taken 
of the nature and influence of faith, and the reflections arising 
from it, are so numerous and important, that I shall feel it neces- 
sary to give them greater prominence and extent than is usual. 

1. We are led to reflect on the general character of false 
faith. False faith always misapprehends, in a greater or less 
degree, the meaning of the divine testimony. This is one of its 
chief faults. The other is, that even where, as to speculation, it 
correctly understands the divine testimony, it is wanting in right 
feeling. 

There is one particular kind of faith, which has had no 
small credit in some parts of the Christian world, but which we 
can easily prove to be unscriptural and false, by the principles 
established in the foregoing discussion. In the exercise of that 
kind of faith to which I now refer, a man believes, without re- 
gard to his character, that Christ died for him in particular, and 
has forgiven, or certainly will forgive his sins. Consider now, 
that true faith always looks to the divine testimony, and is con- 
formed to it. In this case, then, the first question is, what is 
the testimony of God respecting those who are pardoned, and 


19 


to whom the blessings of Christ’s death are promised? The 
answer is at hand. Repent and believe, that your sins may be 
blotted out. He that believeth on the Son, hath life; but he that 
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God 
abideth on him. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. 
But under the influence of that faith, which I would now expose, 
a man believes, without any evidence of piety, that God has for- 
given his sins, and made him an heir of heaven. He has not 
repented ; has not been born again ; is without holiness. Still 
he believes his sins are forgiven, and his name written in heav- 
en. But in believing this, he dzsbelieves the divine testimony. 
The Scripture declares, that no man of such a character is par- 
doned. He believes that he is pardoned, because he does not 
believe the word of God. 

We have here, then, a general test of faith. It is not our 
business to inquire, whether any man’s faith is agreeable to this 
or that system of opinions, to such a deduction of reason, or to 
such a dream of fancy. Our simple inquiry is, whether it is 
agreeable to the word of God; whether, as to apprehension and 
feeling, it is an exact counterpart to the divine testimony. 

2. It is easy to see what influence Christian faith must have 
in forming our religious opinions. A man of faith regulates his 
opinions by the only rule of faith, the word of God. Whatever 
may be the subject of investigation, he seeks to know what God 
the Lord will say. Whether the doctrines of Scripture are 
agreeable to his previous views, or not; whether comprehensi- 
ble, or incomprehensible, is not his question at all. When he 
finds what God says, his inquiry ends ; his opinions are fixed. 
But a man wanting in Christian faith is not satisfied with this. 
He may indeed perceive what God says; but he must look fur- 
ther. One says; how can this be? It is so inconsistent with 
reason, so different from every thing which nature and philoso- 
phy teach, that I must regard it as utterly incredible. Another 


20 


asks, whether the doctrine in question would be agreeable to his 
particular party. The object of inquiry with a third is, whether 
the doctrine proposed would require him to deny any of his in- 
clinations, or to forego any of his honors or pleasures. In. des- 
pite of the clearest evidence from the word of God, they gov- 
ern their opinions by just such considerations as these. And all 
this, because they have not faith. What wonder is it then, that 
men, destitute of faith, should be carried about with every wind 
of doctrine, and embrace opinions as distant as possible from the 
decisions of holy writ. 

We see also, that Christians are likely to agree in their re- 
ligious opinions, in proportion to the activity and strength of their 
faith. ‘The testimony of God is one. The rule of their opin- 
ions is one. If their faith is active in searching after the tes- 
timony of God, and strong to receive it, whatever it may be, 
they are surely in tlie way to union. 

My third reflection is, that Christian faith is suited at once to 
humble man, and to glorify God. First ; it humbles man., The 
divine testimony, which it receives, rises far above the reach of 
our understanding, and by its sacred and incomprehensible doc- 
trines, is suited to bring down the pride of reason. Again; the 
divine testimony represents man to be exceedingly guilty, vile, 
and helpless. When we believe that testimony, we believe our- 
selves to be just so guilty, vile, and helpless. ‘Thus we are laid 
low, and made to feel that shame and blushing belong to us. 

But the same faith that humbles man, exalts and glorifies 
God. The Apostle says, Rom. 4: 20, 21. that Abraham stag- 
gered not at the promise of God through unbelief ; but was 
strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded 
that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. ‘The 
promise, as you will recollect, was one which seemed impossible 
to be performed. But Abraham readily believed it, and anti- 
cipated the performance of it as a certainty. He was as fully 


21 


persuaded of it, as though it had already taken place. All this 
he believed, purely because God had promised it. Now this 
persuasion of Abraham’s mind was highly honorable to God. 
Whenever we believe any thing on the authority of God’s word, 
we honor him, as a God of truth. This is eminently the case 
when the accomplishment of God’s word is attended with pe- 
culiar difficulties, so that our believing it can arise from no cause, 
but our confidence in the divine veracity and power. Again ; 
Abraham saw the land of Canaan in the possession of a ferocious 
and powerful people. Yet because he had confidence in God, 
he believed that the land would be given to his children for 
an inheritance. Isaac and Jacob believed the same, though 
to human reason nothing could appear more improbable. 
The faith of Christians honors God in the same way. They 
know the greatness of their guilt, the penalty of the law, the 
justice of God. And yet they believe, purely on the authority 
of God’s word, that they may be pardoned. They know the 
deceit, the hardness, the obstinacy of their hearts; and yet they 
have such ¢onfidence in God, that they are persuaded he can 
heal these spiritual maladies, and make them holy. They have 
such an apprehension of the love, the power, and the faithfulness 
of God, that they confidently believe, because he hath said it, 
that all nations, how deplorable soever their present condition, 
shall be given to Christ for an inheritance; that idolatry, and 
superstition, and every form of sin and misery shall be banished 
from the world ; that kings, and rulers, and all people shall bow 
to the King of Zion, and the knowledge of the Lord fill the 
earth. However difficult the work which God promises to per- 
form; however diverse from any thing they ever knew in other 
cases; they have such honorable apprehensions of God, that 
they believe it will certaimly be accomplished. Thus, in the 
exercise of faith, they show their high estimation of the glorious 
character of God ; and this most of all, when they themselves 


22 


are in straits; when they can see nothing but darkness and dan- 
ger, and when, so far as human power can go, their case is 
hopeless. ‘To repose trust in God in such circumstances; to 
look to him for support, direction and deliverance, when all oth- 
er help fails, shows what exalted thoughts they entertain of his 
infinite perfections. 

4. It is obvious that all the defects of our character and con- 
duct are owing to the want, or the weakness of faith. 

Without faith in the general sense, man has in fact no mo- 
tives to a holy life ; because all the motives to holiness are found 
in those invisible things which are the objects of faith, and which 
are brought by faith to have an influence on the mind. Were 
there no God, no moral government, no law with divine sanc- 
tions, no eternal retribution, there would be no motives to holi- 
ness, and of course no holiness. And if a man does not cor- 
dially believe in a moral law and government, and a future retri- 
bution, it will be to him just asthough there were none. Inoth- 
er words, there will be nothing, there can be nothing, which 
will have any influence upon him, as a motive to holy action. 
It is clear then that faith, in this view, is indispensable to the 
exercise of holiness. But not to dwell upon this general view of 
faith; we know that the Scriptures in various places represent 
the want or weakness of Christian faith, as the cause of what 
is faulty in the character and conduct of men, and of Christians, 
as well as others. 

Suffer me then, brethren, to use freedom of speech on this 
subject, and to say, that one of the prominent faults in our 
character is a worldly spirit. Do we not set our affections 
on earthly friends, relations, riches, honors, and enjoyments ? 
Does not a regard to these govern our conduct? Do not the 
zeal and diligence we show in our pursuits spring chiefly from 
this source? See here the consequence of the want of faith.— 
This is the victory which overcometh the world, says an Apostle, 


23 


even our faith. If we had faith; that is, if we cordially and 
steadily believed what the Scriptures teach ; if we had an abi- 
ding, lively sense of the glory of God, the excellence of his law . 
and government, our guilty, and wretched state, the beauty and — 
all-sufficiency of Christ, the endless joys of heaven and the end- 
less sufferings of hell ; if these objects were continually present 
to our view, and our understandings and hearts were filled with 
them ; the things of this dying world would all sink into nothing. 
No earthly pleasures could allure us. None of the honors or 
riches of the world could excite our desire. Upon them all we 
should see the broad stamp of vanity and insignificance, and a 
worldly spirit would die away. 

Again. Are we not frequently conscious of a reluctance to 
forsake all for Christ? He has told us that, if we will do this, 
we shall have an hundred fold in this life, and in the world to 
come life everlasting. Why are we so reluctant? Why go 
away from him, as the young man in the gospel did, with heav- 
iness of heart? It is our unbelief, brethren. We are not cor- 
dially persuaded of the truth and importance of what Christ 
declares. ‘The good which he promises we regard not as a pre- 
cious reality. We do not look upon it with feelings correspon- — 
dent to its nature and worth. Had we strong, lively faith in 
the promises of Christ ; there is no present advantage we should 
not freely relinquish, and no suffering we should not cheerful- 
ly undergo, for the sake of that eternal inheritance which he has 
promised to the faithful. 

Are we not conscious of a lamentable degree of insensibility 
and sloth in the concerns of religion? And how is this to be 
accounted for? Are not the eternal objects made known by 
the word of God, of sufficient importance to rouse our attention ? 
Is not the favour of him who made us, and of him who died for 
us, and the enjoyment of his everlasting kingdom, worthy of 
being sought with diligence? Is not an eternity of insupport- 


24 


able suffering dreadful enough to’ excite our most watchful care 
to avoid it? Yes, brethren. But our unbelief makes all these 
appear distant and uncertain. It takes away from things eter- 
nal their power to interest the heart, and to produce emotion 
and effort, and leaves us as supine and dormant, as though the 
glorious objects of religion had no existence. 

’Tis unbelief also, that renders us so wndifferent to the sal- 
vation of sinners, and the prosperity of the church. Did we 
see eternal things in the light of divine truth, and apprehend, in 
any suitable measure, their importance, their certainty, and their 
nearness ; what a lively sensibility should we have to the inter- 
ests of our connexions, and friends, and all our fellow men. 
What concern for immortal souls, ready to perish. What 
strong desire for their redemption from sin and death. How 
alive should we be to every thing which stands connected with 
the prosperity of the church, and the interests of eternity. 

It is the want of a lively faith in the great things of the unseen 
world, that renders us so superficial and heartless in our devo- 
tions. If in our seasons of secret and social worship, we should 
have faith ; if we should look into eternity ; should see just be- 
fore us the resurrection of the dead, the judgment seat, and all 
the generations of men assembled to receive their irreversible 
doom ; could we be dull and wandering in our prayers? If we 
knew that all these things were shortly to burst upon our view ; 
would earthly trifles be suffered to break in upon our devo- 
tions? Would not all the ardor of our souls be kindled up in 
our addresses to our God and our Judge ? 

To this same source we are to trace all the follies and sins 
apparent in our lives. If the eye of our faith were always open 
and always fixed on the certain, tremendous, glorious things of 
another world; if, wherever we went and whatever we did, 
these eternal objects were present to our view, and had full pos- 
session of our feelings ; every irregular passion would lose its 


25 


power, and we should become circumspect and holy in all our 
conduct. 

And is it indeed so, my brethren, that. our earthly minded- 
ness, our reluctance to forsake all for Christ, our insensibility 
and sloth in religion, our indifference in regard to the prosperity 
of the church and the salvation of sinners, our dull and heart- 
less devotions, and all the irregularities of our temper and con- 
duct are owing to the want of a steady, strong, lively faith? 
Of what vast importance is it, then, that we should’possess such 
a faith ; and of course, that we should diligently employ those 
means which are suited to promote it, 

Here indulge me a few moments, while I say, that the aris 
cipal means of promoting a strong, lively faith, is the exercise of 
it. It results from the constitution of the mind, that all our af- 
fections and habits are strengthened by exercise. Every time, 
therefore, that we view eternal things in the light of revelation ; 
every time we look at them with a full persuasion of their cer- 
tainty, and a suitable sense of their importance ; we do some~ 
thing towards promoting a strong, steady faith. This salutary 
influence of exercising faith is not however in all cases equal 
in degree, but will be very much according to circumstances ; 
and particularly will it be in proportion to the difficulty which 
attends such an exercise. A single instance of faith, in circum- 
stances like those in which Abraham confidently believed the 
promise of God, will go farther towards establishing a living 
principle of faith in the mind, than many acts of faith, where no 
difficulty is encountered. In such a ease as that of Abraham, 
there is a struggle, acontest. Obstacles are met and removed ; 
enemies are subdued ; and the power of faith is established. 
‘Take care, then, brethren, when difficulties multiply ; when 
dark elouds are spread over you ; when sense and reason are 
nouplussed, and you have nothing in heaven or earth to rest upon, 
but the simple word of God; in such cases, take care to 

4 


‘ 


26 


have faith, strong faith. Go forth at the divine word, leaving 
all, and not knowing whither you go. Sacrifice your Isaacs. 
March right forward into the sea; and, if God command, dip 
your feet in the waters, and wade, and swim, and buffet the 
waves, believing that God Almighty will help you through. 

I have only one more remark; namely; that clear views 
and deep impressions of divine things, and powerful movings of 
affection towards them, or, which is the same thing, strong, an- 
imated exercises of faith, will do vastly more towards a habit 
of faith, than other exercises which are comparatively feeble 
and lifeless. You may exercise a weak, unanimated faith ma- 
ny years, and not do so much towards giving the mind the char- 
acter of steady, unyielding faith, as may be done in an hour or 
a minute, in which eternal things come with clearness to the 
soul, waking up all its powers, and exciting acts of vigorous, 
undivided, unwavering faith. Such acts of faith have an abi- 
ding influence. ‘They produce a permanent character. Some- 
thing as our being transported into the third heaven, and seeing 
and hearing what Paul saw and heard, would produce an im- 
pression on our minds that would remain through life, and show 
its effects through eternity. 

Let us then be sensible how vastly important it is, that di- 
vine, eternal things should take deep hold onour minds ; should 
excite strong emotions ; should rouse all our powers to action ; 
should fill our capacities, and exhaust the energies of our souls. 
And let us seize every occasion and apply ourselves to every 
means, favorable to such a state of mind. By retirement; 
by watchful care not to be engrossed with earthly pursuits ; by 
devoutly reading the Scriptures; by heavenly contemplation ; 
by mortifying all sinful affection ; by spiritual converse with di- 
vine and eternal objects, and by ardent, incessant desires and 
prayers after them, let us endeavour to'get away from the de- 
lusion of sensible things ; to rise dbove the present world, and 

i : 


27 


to bring our understandings and hearts under the influence of 
divine truth ; deeming ourselves happy, when favored with afew 
moments of clear, spiritual knowledge, and strong faith; and 
then advancing from moments to hours, and from hours to days, 
‘till we come to look with an undiverted eye at things not seen 
and eternal, and from morning to night, and from Sabbath to 
Sabbath, have our feelings and actions all swayed by faith in 
God. Oh! blessed attainment! When shall we rise to any 
thing like this? Lorp, increase our faith. 


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THE PULPIT AND THE STATE: ¢ 
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A DISCOURSE, — 


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REV. WILLARD SPAULDING, | 


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THE PULPIT AND THE STATE: 


A DISCOURSE, 


PREACHED ON SUNDAY, FEB. 15, 1863, 


REV. WILLARD SPAULDING, 


PASTOR OF THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY IN SALEM. 
RO 


PUBLISHED BY 


CHARLES A. BECKFORD, 
No. 9 Central Street, Salem. 


PRINTED BY REQUEST OF THE PROPRIETORS. 


SALEM: 
Charles W. Swasey, Printer, No. 27 Washington Street. 
1863. 


THE PULPIT AND THE STATE. 


‘Righteousness exalteth a nation; but Sin is a reproach to any _ 
people.’’— Prov. xiv, 34. 

The voice of inspiration teaches us that Government is 
of divine origin. The necessity for it, doubtless, is found in 
our very nature. One form may have no higher sanction 
than another, but a government of some kind must exist. 
Man may engage in the erection of the structure, but it is 
not strictly a human creation, since he is forced to the ac- 
complishment of the work. Laws may be changed by hu- 
man influence ; they may be, justly or unjustly, broken by 
revolution ; but law itself cannot be annihilated. “The 
powers that be are ordained of God.” 

All the civil organizations of the world profess to be 
grounded upon divine principles. They claim to rest on 
no false or arbitrary basis, but on the eternal laws of right, 
which proceed from the mouth of God. As His work, they 
acknowledge allegiance to Him. He is “King of kings and 
Lord of lords,” since it is his right to rule whatever he has 
formed. The magistrate and the subject alike act under 
the solemn influence of an oath, registered in heaven. Their 
suplications ascend together to the Deity, from whom is all 
their support. The State is no less dependent upon Him, 
than the individuals of whom it is composed ; and it is, equal- 
ly with them, subject to His decrees. 


\ 


4 


All governments acknowledge the existence of a relig- 
ious element in man, and that provision for its development 
has been divinely made. ‘They admit that it is the most im- 
portant part of his being, and that the religion he accepts 
is paramount to all other forces opperating upon him. No 
State can stand on the principles of Infidelity. Let it deny 
the existence of Deity, make morality conventional, teach 
the doctrine that might constitutes right, and remove the 
grounds of hope, and its days will quickly be numbered. 
Let it remember only that its subjects are physical and men- 
tal beings, and they will shortly crush it beneath their feet. 
There must be Rituals, or there can beno Civil Seryice. There 
must be Altars, or there can be no Magistrates. No gov- 
ernment in the Christian world could stand a day without 
an acknowledgment of the Gospel;—no treasure would be 
given for its support, no arms would be stretched out im 
its defence. If it were not so, public opinion would .be 
found mightier than the sword, and ideas more than a match 
for hissing bullets. The word of God cannot be overcome. 
It is, therefore, the highest wisdom in the State to encourage 
its promulgation. Its own safety depends upon its accep- 
tance. 

It is not difficult to perceive how Civil Organizations are 
influenced by Religion. It is, doubtless, its first office te 
mould the individual character. We derive from it the 
spirit by which we are animated. Outward circumstances, 
though not unimportant, have comparatively little influence 
upon us. Mental culture, which is indeed desirable, is far _ 
less potent. It is Religious Education which forms the indi- 
vidual mind. Every human body must partake of the char- 
acter of the elements of which it is composed. In material 
things, the result of combinations may be totally unlike the 
combining elements, but it is not so in the human world. 
The State is like its constituent parts. Demoralize its mem- 


5 


bers, weaken their sense of right, inspire them with selfish- 
ness, and inflame their passions, and it will soon crumble 
to ruin. Nothing but adversity can come upon it. You 
have opened the fountains of evil, and the deluge,is at hand. 


But it will be otherwise with the State, when those who 
compose it accept the principles of true religion. When 
they become loyal to Truth and Justice; when the spirit of 
Equality pervades their hearts, and they are bound together 
by the ties of Fraternal Sympathy ; when they become anima- 
ted with every Christian virtue, then will the State have before 
it a glorious career of prosperity. It will advance in all the 
elements,of material wealth, for God has promised this bless- 
ing tu those that do his will. The energies of the civil body 
now become irresistible, for the arm of Righteousness is in- 
deed omnipotent. The mind of the nation is rapidly devel- 
oped, and large additions are made to the intellectual treas- 
ures of the world. No limit is set to the existence of such 
a body, for it is as true of States as of men, that the 
righteous shall live forever. Every State that dies, perishes 
by a suicidal hand. Under the benign influence of our holy 
religion, a more glorious commonwealth shall arise than the 

_world has ever known. The pages of history yet to be 
written, will be brighter than those which are already penned. 


The Civil History of the world truly reflects its Religious 
Progress. If we find but little to admire in the nations of 
antiquity, it is because they were founded in heathenism. 
In this school the Sovereign was educated, and, unless pre- 
served by a special providence, he came forth a tyrant. He 
learned therein, not that he was made for the State, but that 
it was made for him. Deceptive, cruel and exacting, he was 
ever an object of fear. Here and there we find a monarch, 
the history of whose reign is not written in letters of blood, 

(2) 


6 


but they are exceptions to the general rule. The subject 
was no better than the sovereign. Weak, superstitious and 
debased, he readily accepted the yoke prepared for him. 
We should naturally expect that nations composed of such 
material, would have a miserable existence, and come to an 
inglorious end. They were smitten with the plague of Idol- 
atry, from which there is no recovery. When the Jews for- 
got Jehovah, the rod of destruction was laid upon them; 
and every nation committing the same ‘offence must endure 
a similar judgment. 

The Moslem faith was based on deception, its author 
claiming for it a divine origin, when he knew it was from 
beneath. There were in it jewels of truth, but they were 
all purloined, and were rendered of little value by the set- 
ting they received. Conscious of its inherent weakness, its 
advocates resorted to the sword for its promulgation. They 
knew there was no safety for it, except in the destruction of 
all opposing systems. It became at once a State religion, 
and its influence thoroughly pervaded the civil body. Treach- 
ery has, perhaps, been the leading characteristic of every 
Mohammedan government. Imbecility and a tendeney to 
disorganization are every where apparent. The elements 
of steady and continued progress are entirely wanting. 
This religion has appropriated the fairest and most favored 
regions of the earth, only to cast upon them the shadow of 
death. Heathenism itself presents a higher civilization. 
Though inconsistent with enlightened reason, it is yet no 
counterfeit, and the State resting upon it has a better basis, 
We are not surprised that the question is raised, whether 
governments founded on the Koran should be longer toler- 
ated in the world. 


Christianity affords the only sufficient foundation for 
the State. A new light dawned upon the nations on its in- 


-I1 


troduction into the world. The Christian Government, 
next to the Christian Church, is the most glorious structure 
we are permitted to behold. Under its benign influence, 
the civil institutions of men were destined to attain to a 
high degree of perfection. It was to undo the pernicious: 
work which wrong systems of belief had accomplished. It 
contains a perfect code of morals, so simple that all may 
comprehend it, and so beautiful as to inspire admiration in: 
every heart. It enlightens conscience with heavenly wisdom, 
and quickens it with diyine life. It dignifies man in his own 
estimation, by opening to his vision the gates of immortal 
being, and thus elevates the plane of his present life. It 
teaches him to manifest, in every character he may be called 
to sustain, the virtues with which it seeks to imbue his soul. 
It bids him remember the grandeur of his being, and his re- 
sponsibility to his God, in every organization im which he 
may be summoned to act. It is, therefore, fitted alike for 
the Ruler and Subject, teaching the former that he should 
be a “minister of God for good,” and the latter that he 
should “do: that which is good,” being “subject, not only 
for wrath, but also. for conscience sake.” The Christian 
monarch, whatever may be brought against the system by 
which he rules, can never become a tyrant. He will exer- 
cise his authority in a paternal spirit. Only a Christian 
People can be fitted for Self-Government. The Gospel alone 
can give true freedom, and strengthen us for its preservation. 
Instructed by it, we understand the mission of government, 
and become qualified to discharge the duties of the citizen. 
Through its influence the’ State becomes the harmonious , 
counterpart. of the Church. | 


The first governments which bore the Christian name, 
were doubtless but little better than those which immedi- 


8 


ately preceded them. They were oppressive, and not wor- 
thy to endure. The leaven of Christian truth had begun to 
operate upon them, but the work of regeneration could not 
be completed in a day. Long periods of time would be re- 
quired for its accomplishment. The Gospel was given and 
established by miracle, but it was not in this manner to be 
continuously promulgated. Its triumphs were to be grad- 
ually achieved, in accordance with the laws of our being. 
Efforts were made, which were but too successful, to engraft 
upon it the erroneous systems of belief which had been pre- 
viously entertained; and for centuries the so called Chris- 
tian world might, with greater propriety, have been termed 
heathen. The corruptions of the new system were mani- 
fest, not only in the condition of the Church, but also in 
that of the State—both magistrates and subjects being dis- 
qualified for their duties. The hand that kindled a strange 
fire upon the Christian altar, wrote a heathen statute for 
the government of the people. We should be careful not 
to charge to our religion, the works which have been wrought 
out by its false apostles. 


When the light of the Reformation dawned upon the 
world, the State was benefitted by it equally with the Church. 
The minds of men were enfranchised—left free to appro- 
priate all the truth lying within their grasp. They were 
elevated to a perception and realization of their rights. 
Their energies were aroused, so that things before regard- 
ed as impossible, became certain of accomplishment. De- 
spondency gave way to hope, although they were endued 
with the spirit of sacrifice, and ever ready for martyrdom. 
When men are educated to discern their Religious rights, 
they become qualified to judge of those which are Political 
in their character; and the same forces which rend the 
bands of superstition, will soon break the fetters of civil 
bondage. The liberties enjoyed in western Europe are 


9 


clearly, traceable to the Reformation. The monarchies which 
there exist are limited by public opinion, and by statutes 
which the people have authoritatively demanded of their ru- 
lers. They would take no denial, and the swords drawn 
against them were compelled to return to their scabbards. 
Luther, while addressing the Pope, was listened to with fear 
by all the tyrants of the world, who heard in his burning 
words their own sentence of doom. His disciples were not 
only the Apostles of the Church, but the Patriots of the 
Realm. The pen with which he wrote his Exegesis of the 
Bible, was to be employed in tracing out Constitutions for 
the People. Those who, under his valiant leadership, as- 
sailed the Pope, were afterward to dethrone kings. He 
began the work of exterminating all systems of oppression, 
and left it to his followers for completion. 


Eminent in this pioneer labor were the Puritan Fathers, 
who prosecuted the work with persistent energy. Though 
their hands were not entirely clean, yet they dealt heavy 
blows against tyrants in surplices and in royal robes. They 
were eminently a thinking people, and, though by no means 
free from fanaticism, followed in the main the way of wis- 
dom. No obstacles could dishearten them; their zeal in- 
creased with every trial; they were terribly in earnest, for 
they were ready to yield up their possessions and their 
lives, rather than abandon their honest convictions. They 
asked nothing as citizens, but everything as followers of 
Christ. They were never Politicians, but always Religion- 
ists. They bore this character not only in the Church, but 
also in the Parliment, and om the Battle Field. They fought 
the most valiantly as they prayed the most fervently. In 
this character they felt themselves the equals of lords and 
sovereigns, not believing that any one had a right to oppress 
the heritage of God. 

(3) 


10 


The highest type of Puritanism in England was pro- 
duced in Cromwell, and its best work in the Commonwealth, 
though it endured but fora season. Sagacious, firm and 

patriotic, with perfect faith im the Word of God, which he 
sought to take as his guide, he labored to rid his country 
of a burden, which, unfortunately, she chose longer to wear. 
He shed the blood of royalty; and though the throne re- 
mained, he hung over it an avenging sword, to teach every 
new occupant that there is a point of forbearance beyond 
which the people will not go. The people of England owe 
to Puritanism, as the highest interpretation of the Gospel, 
the liberties they now enjoy. 


To the same source is the American nation indebted for 
its free institutions. The Faith of our Fathers, which was 
strengthened and made more precious to them by the trials 
through which they had passed, brought them to this al- 
most wilderness land, and out of it has arisen the govern- 
ment which secures to us the enjoyment of our civil and re- 
ligious rights. If this government is more perfect than any 
other which has ever been framed, it is because that FarrH 
had more divine truth im it than was contained in any creed 
which had ever been accepted among men. Our fathers saw, 
in the light which it shed upon their vision, the “Inalienable 


Rights” with which the Creator had endowed them. It* 


inspired them with the deepest hatred of oppression. It 
imparted to them, in its fullest measure, the spirit of self 
sacrifice. It gave to them, along with the most undaunted 
heroism, energies which could not be resisted. Finding in 
the Gospel a charter of human rights, they resolved on its 
preservation, though they might be called, in the prosecution 
of the work, to dwell in barren wilds and wade through 
bloody seas. They produced the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, as the correct political exegesis of the New Testa- 


4 


11 


ment. Others had sought in that book the “divine right 
of kings ;” they found in it THE DIVINE RIGHTS OF THE PEO- 
PLE. The doctrine of Human Fraternity, which is one of 
its fundamental principles, had, in their view, an application 
to the State. Accepting this principle, they went on to the 
assertion of the essential equality of men, and of their com- 
mon rights. The Revolution was a religious war; those 
who fell in it were Christian martyrs. The instrument of 
government which followed it, was the work of consecrated 
hands. We do not err when we say that the American 
Commonwealth is a divine creation. It was wrought out 
through the instrumentality of human hands, but the guid- 
ing influence and the moving power were from on high. It 
is founded on the Word of God, which has exalted it above 
all other nations. 


We have seen that the State is of divine appointment ; 
that it is professedly based on religious principles; that, 
in the very nature of things, it must be powerfully influenced 
thereby —the civil history of the world being little more 
than the record of their operation. It follows that the Pul- 
pit, as the chief exponent of divine truth, owes to the State 
the most important duties. It may contribute greatly to 
its prosperity and glory, or, by its neglect, hasten it to ruin. 
Its general labors, if faithfully performed, will tend to secure 
the former result ; but specific efforts should be put forth to 
that end. Its sphere is surely not political, but it by no 
means follows that it must forget the government in its 
prayers and instructions; for the State is more than a po- 
litical body. It speaks to men as laborers, as parents, as 
neighbors—why should it not address them as citizens? 
Caucuses and Elections, Platforms and Parties, Congresses, 
Judges and Presidents, come legitimately within its notice. 


12 


It must, of course, discuss these themes in their moral bear- 
ings. No feeling of timidity, no time-serving policy, should 
prevent its accomplishment of this work. While it seeks 
the salvation of individual hearts, let it labor with equal 
energy and directness to save the nation from moral death. 
Let it carry the revival of the Church into the State, before 
it has sinned away the day of grace. 


The sphere which some have marked out for the Pulpit 
is altogether too narrow. There is infinitely more danger 
that it will not fill up its proper boundaries, than that it 
will pass beyond them. Indeed, those pulpits which are re- 
garded by many as the most religious, preach the least of 
practical Christianity. Most of their productions have no 
conceivable application to life. They tend rather to blind 
the minds of men to the world, than to open before them 
their duties, and lead them to take up the burdens which 
Providence calls them to bear. Formerly the Pulpit was 
not allowed the light of Science, and hence many of its ut- 
terances have been found contradictory to the facts of na- 
ture. It is still, to no inconsiderable extent, denied the aid 
of Philosophy, and hence the absurdities of the creed-book - 
are without number. The whole man should speak, and not 
a single faculty, rendered inefficient by separation from the 
other powers; and all nature, and every department of hu- 
man life, should furnish themes for discourse. 


The Bible, we admit, is not a political treatise; yet, 
how much of the Old Testament was addressed to the Jews 
as anation. The magistrate and subject were continually 
in view. Nor is the Gospel silent upon their duties. John 
the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded for condemning 
the sin of Herod. Christ labored for the salvation of Jeru- 
salem, with a zeal which can never be equaled. His apos- 
tles spoke to allsclasses in the State, teaching them, with 


13 


great faithfulness, their respective duties. They condemned 
wickedness in the high places of the land. We want a pul- 
pit to-day that shall endeavor to follow the examples placed 
before us in the Scriptures. 


The Christian minister, to be prepared for the perform- 
ance of his whole duty, should become acquainted with sub- 
jects of national concern. It is often said that he is igno- 
rant of them, and hence is not qualified to give instruction 
to men in reference to their civil obligations. We do not 
say that he should neglect at all the study of the Bible, or 
cease his efforts to unravel the mysteries of theology, or la- 
bor any the less earnestly to remove the common vices of 
the world. We do not affirm that he should confine his at- 
tention chiefly to profane history; that he should become 
learned in the law; or that he should rise to the eminence 
of the statesman. He should not abandon his holy calling 
to become a politician; he should not seek place or power ; 
he should not engage in the arts of: political strife. But he 
should understand the nature and mission of Government ; 
the essentials of a proper civil organization, and the whole 
range of civil virtues. He should know what may be justly re- 
quired of the several departments of the State, what will con- 
tribute to its weal or woe, and whether it is tending to pros- 
perity or ruin. He should stand as a sentinel on its watch- 
towers. Let him study the political press, look into the cau- 
cus, listen to the voice of the tribune. Let him scan parties, 
and look over the whole machinery by which elections are 
carried. Let him be a man of political observation and re- 
flection, and then will the Pulpit become a positive power in 
the State, and none the less so in the Church. 


The Pulpit should impart to the people the true spirit 
of Patriotism, which will constitute their best preparation for 


(4) 


14 


the discharge of their civil duties. Attachment to the land 
in which we live, and to the institutions established over us, 
may be a natural sentiment, but it needs to be educated 
and strengthened by religion. The people of a land are not 
bound together by mountain chains or far-reaching vales; 
they are not held by the ties of industrial interests; a com- 
mon language and religion are not sufficient to preserve 
them as one body; nor is the memory of a common life, reach- 
ing through long periods of the past, and made up of earn- 
est struggles, successes and disappointments. Deeper chords 
than these, and stronger, must unite them. Patriotism is a 
religious sentiment. It is, in its most perfect state, a feel- 
ing of Brotherhood, inspired by the Gospel of Christ; it is 
an attachment to institutions which we feel to be funda- 
mentally right, and which, therefore, must meet our needs. 
Its memories reach back to the Christian patriots and mar- 
tyrs who were instrumental in achieving them, while its 
hopes are cherished, and its prayers are offered, for the 
generations of the future. It embraces a feeling of grati- 
tude to God for the blessings which flow from the State, while 
it imparts to the mind.a solemn sense of its responsibility 
to him. Thus it consecrates the land and all its interests. 
It makes it holy ground; every legitimate interest, a subject 
of prayer; every service it requires, divine in its character. 
Destroying the spirit of fierce and blind partizanship, it fills 
the nation with true charity. It eradicates the spirit- of in- 
equality or sectionalism, seeking only the common good. It 
admits of no corruption. The Christian patriot would soon- - 
er rob his mother than wrong his country. The State _ 
which is pervaded by true patriotism, can command for de- 
fence all the treasure within its borders; and there is not 
one of its subjects who will not pour out his blood in its 
support. The patriotism of a nation is its defence; and 
this sentiment must be implanted by the Church. It is a 


15 


power imparted by the Gospel. It is fire taken from the 
altar. It is a light beaming in upon the heart from the 
realms of day. 


The Pulpit should teach the people not to forget their 
religion while acting the part of citizens. Singular as it 
may seem, there are many men who stand well in the Church, 
but who are a disgrace to the State. They pray well, but 
they vote infamously. They are honest in trade, but tricky 
in politics. They are charitable as neighbors, while, as 
members of a party, they are full of bitterness and gall. 
They are honorable in the general affairs of life, but, to pro- 
mote an election, there is no depth of meanness to which 
they will not go. Ordinarily they are careful in the selec- 
tion of their associates; but in the caucus and town meet- 
ing, they are “brothers to dragons and companions to owls.” 
In all this they seem to think they are doing right. They 
make a virtue of necessity. They do not stop to reflect 
that victory won by unfair means is worse than defeat. It 
is better that we should wrong one another, than wrong the 
State; that we should slander our neighbor, than infuse a 
poisonous spirit into an entire party; that we should in- 
vite crime to our own dwellings, than conduct it to the bal- 
lot box. The standard of morality is low enough in the 
business world, but it is still lower in the political. Men 
should be taught to carry their religion as citizens wher- 
ever they go. They should be morally educated by the pul- 
pit for the special trusts which will devolve upon them in 
that character, for a general preparation will not be found 
sufficient. The moral qualifications of the citizen is a theme 
eminently appropriate for discussion at the present time. 
One must be converted to the depths of his soul before he 
is fit for the caucus, or can pass safely through the ordeal of 
a general election. 


16 


But the professing Christian who throws off his religion 
when he enters the political arena, is not alone to be con- 
demned. He also is to be censured, who, accepting the 
Gospel as his guide, believes he is justified in neglecting 
the claims of the State. He witnesses the corruption which 
exists therein. Multitudes, having no other means for sup- 
port, crowd around the public treasury. Professing to serve 
the civil body, they care only to serve themselves. Others, ~ 
without merit to lift them from obscurity, set on foot some 
dishonest schemes to secure for themselves place and power. 
Victory, if not sought for pelf or place, is desired by some 
for the sake of the victory. The Christian man, who is a stran- 
ger to such motives, absents himself from the contest. He 
fears, if he were to engage in it, he might also become cor- 
rupt in his faith and morals; and so, abandoning the Com- 
monwealth, he clings to his altar. He prays that all may go 
well with the State, and hopes that a Special Providence 
will be interposed for its preservation. There are multi- 
tudes of the most moral and religious members of commu- 
nity who thus neglect their civil duties. Hence our elec- 
tions, in many cases, are carried by the selfish and debased. 
The rabble and the mob take possession of the ballot box, 
and grog-shops and brothels win the day. This evil has 
been endured too long. It is the imperative duty of the Pul- 
pit to impress upon the mind of every Christian man the 
importance of discharging the obligations he owes to the 
Commonwealth. If we are to have the Caucus, let the 
Church be represented in it. If we-are to have the Ballot 
Box, let it receive the votes of those who have faith im God, 
and seek to do his will. If we are to have a Government, 
let it be Christian in its character. ‘ 


It is the duty of the occupant of the sacred desk to teach 
the necessity of selecting fit individuals for places of trust 


17 


in the State. The best government, if administered badly, 
becomes a curse to its subjects. A republic becomes intol- 

erable when under the control of demagogues, while a mon- 

archy may well be borne, if the sovereign is paternal. The 
people of our land need to be instructed to elect their own 
rulers, for surely a large proportion of those who rise to 

authority, elevate themselves. Incompetent men, weak and 

vacillating, and, what is worse, morally depraved, are fre- 
quently our rulers. They use the power.with which they 

are invested to perpetuate their term of office, which ought 

instantly to close; to strengthen their party, and not to. 
benefit the nation; to divide and distract the land, rather 

than preserve its unity and secure to it the blessings of 

peace. Our Fathers put statesmen in places of authority ; 

men who feared God, and who, by his blessing, could hold 

the helm of the Ship of State with a firm and steady hand. 

Then there was calm deliberation in the halls of legislation, 

and treason was not rampant in the land. Have we such 

men in our land to-day? If we have not, God save the 

State. If we have them, and because of the corruption of 
politics they cannot be elevated to office, the Pulpit should 

make them available. Surely it does not go beyond its 

sphere when it would charge the citizen to vote for the wise, 

the patriotic, the Christian man. It should be heard in all 

our elections, not preaching politics or the doctrines of the 

partizan, but warning the people that they will surely mourn 

if they consent that the wicked may bear rule; counselling 

them to select their officers with great caution and prudence, 

having only in view the highest interests of the State. 


The people should be taught by their religious instruc- 
tors the importance of obeying the laws. They are of their 
own enactment, and they should not stultify themselves by 


(5) 


18 


trampling them under foot. If they are wrong, let them be 
amended or repealed; but while they remain upon the stat- 
ute book, let them be kept.. If one may be set aside, so 
may another, till at length anarchy prevails. We do not 
say that the servants of God in the elder ages did wrong in 
resisting heathen laws; but we live under a Christian gov- 
ernment, which is of our own creation, and which we ean 
modify at our will, and it is our duty to obey it. Our only 
security for property, life, and all of our rights, is found in 
its protecting care. It is not left optional with the people, 
as some pulpits have taught, to keep the law, or break it and 
take the penalty. They are to keep it,—and they have no — 
right to choose the latter alternative. Those clergymen are 
to be condemned,—and that in the strongest terms, — who, 
singling out certain enactments, instruct their hearers that 
they are not to regard them. Such teaching tends to un- 
dermine the State. It leads directly to rebellion and trea- 
son. It would bring about the very condition of affairs 
which now exists in the Southern portion of our Republic. 
But, while the Pulpit should instruct the people to obey 
the laws of the land, it should condemn those statutes which 
are morally wrong, and advocate their abrogation. If there 
is anything contradictory to our religion incorporated into 
the fundamental law, it should demand that it be stricken 
out. It has a right to urge the people to the performance 
of this work, and address itself to legislative bodies to the 
same end. The wickedness of the law should be made to 
appear; its disastrous effects should be revealed, in the same 
manner that individual sinfulness is exposed and rebuked. 
The Pulpit condemns sin in the Individual, the Household, 
and the Church; it should do no less in the State. A wick- 
ed government will accomplish infinitely more evil work than 
the individual is able to effect, since its action directly im- 
fluences many millions, and its example disheartens the good 


19 


in all nations. The results of its movements are not limited 
to the present, but extend far into the future. A corrupt 
government or party is not likely to purify itself, but the 
influences which redeem it must be external. Such a 
government demoralizes the Church itself, which is com- 
pelled by the law of self-preservation to undertake the work 
of its redemption. It gives a bill of indulgence for the com- 
mission of sins, which are forbidden in the Gospel of Christ. 


The Christian Minister has been far too reluctant in re- 
buking the sins of the civil body. He has been deterred by 
the cry raised against political preaching, by a desire to 
avoid disturbance, and perhaps, in some cases, by the fear of 
want. He needs more of the spirit of self-sacrifice. Let 
him, if need be, put off his soft raiment, and put on camel’s 
hair ; let him give up his rich repast, and go out in‘search of 
locusts and wild honey. Let him not cry “Peace, Peace, 
when there is no peace;” but smite right and left against 
the enemies of God seated in authority. The wildest tem- 
pest is preferable to the calmest air, when freighted with the 
miasma of death. Do we preach Politics when we rebuke 
wrong in the State? Then I suppose that is Mercantile 
preaching which condemns dishonesty in trade; and that is 
Scientific preaching which charges the instructors of our 
schools to regard the moral interests of their pupils. Such 
folly should be frowned upon, and be repeated no more. 


It is the duty of the Pulpit to condemn the traitors who 
are now threatening the destruction of the Government, and 
it should demand the overthrow of that institution which has 
incited them to their unholy work. If the disloyal take ref- 
uge in the Church, they should be drawn out; if oppression 
claims the sanction of religion, the Christian teacher should 
characterize it as a device of the devil. If we have in our 
midst, religious bodies which tolerate treason, or forbid their 


20 


elected teachers to condemn it, as we have reason to fear 
may be the case, they should be broken up. If we may ered- 
it the journals of the day, a professedly Christian Chureh, 
in a neighboring State, has instructed its committee to no- 
tify every Clergyman coming to occupy its desk, that in no 
way must he refer, either in the discourse or the prayer, to 
the war which is now devastating the land, or to that sys- 
tem of oppression which an eminent servant of Christ has 
justly defined as “the sum of all villanies.” Is this the nine- 
teenth century? Is this New England, the land of the Pil- 
erims, and are we their descendants? Such a body cannot 
be called a Church of Christ. It is a communion of “cop- 
perheads ;” it is a nest of traitors; it is a church of the dey- 
il; and were we called to officiate as the head of such an or- 
ganization, we would, failing in our efforts to regenerate it, 
see to it that its ruin was thoroughly accomplished. It 
should no longer remain to disgrace the age, and defile the 
land which the apostles of impartial liberty have purified with 
their blood. All honor to the pulpits of our nation which 
have rebuked its sins, calling upon it to abandon them, and 
bring forth fruits meet for repentance. 


Righteousness alone can exalt a nation. No individual 
can be truly prosperous and honorable, without moral worth. 
He may have wealth and learning, but, unaccompanied by 
rectitude of heart, they will avail little. He must “do just- 
ly, love mercy, and walk humbly with his God.” So is it 
with the State. Let it fulfil the command “to loose the bands 
of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the op- 
pressed go free, and that ye break every yoke,” and it shall 
realize the promised reward. “It shall build the old waste 
places, and raise up the foundation of many generations.” 
Its “light shall break forth as the morning, and its health 
shall spring forth speedily.” When “Righteousness goes 
before it,” the “Glory of the Lord shall be its rearward. 


21 


Let the Pulpit, then, “cry aloud, spare not, lift up the 
voice like a trumpet, and show the people their transgres- 
sion.” Let it inspire them anew with the Spirit of Liberty; 
unite again, and draw still closer, the ties of fraternal love; 
and teach them to be loyal to the eternal principles of Jus- 
tice. ; 

Oh, that the Pulpit of America had done its duty to the 
State. Perils are upon us. The Union, which was cement- 
ed by the blood of our Fathers, is threatened with destruc- 
tion. The Constitution, the wisest and the best instrument 
of government which man has ever produced, is no longer 
acknowledged by a large portion of our Confederacy. The 
Liberties we have enjoyed, and which we have hoped to 
hand down unimpaired to our children, are in danger. And 
why is this? It is because so many of our people have de- 
parted from the principles, and abandoned the purposes, of 
the founders of the Rebublic, who designed that America 
should be the home of the free to the end of the ages. 
They believed that the little cloud of servitude which hung 
over it in their day, would soon vanish, when the entire 
heaven would be bright with the ight of Freedom. Their 
degenerate sons have labored to divide their inheritance be- 
tween Liberty and Bondage, and to make these opposite 
principles perpetual and eternal here. To this end they 
have employed and prostituted all the arts of diplomacy and 
legislation ; and, failing in these instrumentalities, they have 
now fesorted to the sword. The soil of our country must 
be drenched anew with the blood of her children. Would 
these perils have come upon us if the Pulpit had done its 
duty? But it is awakening to a sense of its obligations to 
the State. Its most fervent prayers arise to heaven for its 
preservation. It is speaking in thunder tones in behalf of 
the Constitution and the Union. It is discoursing earnestly 
upon the universal and everlasting Rights of Man. Glori- 


(6) 


22 


ous, indeed, is the response of the people, who are offering 
their treasures and their lives for the redemption of the land. 
Moved by a religious impulse, they have marched to the post 
of danger, and, standing there in the very footprints of the 
Fathers, they will achieve another and a grander victory in 
the name of Liberty and Humanity. It is a holy warfare; 
well may the sons of the Church enlist therein. Let the 
tempest of treason rage—God is mightier than the storm. 
Let the last great contest between Freedom and Oppression 
be fought, since it must be so, in the land of Washington. 
Surely oppressors and traitors can win no permanent tri- 
umphs here. When the smoke of the, struggle shall have 
passed away, they shall be found writhing in the agonies of 
a second death, and every Christian Patriot of the world 
shall cry, AMEN ! 


»4-4 Dee 


SERMON, 
PREACHED BEFORE THE ANNUAL CONVENTION 


OF THE 


PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 


IN THE 


EASTERN DIOCESE, 


GRACE CHURCH, NEW BEDFORD, MASS., 


WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1837. 


BY WILLIAM H. LEWIS, 
Rector of St. Michael’s Church, Marblehead. 


Boston: 
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PRESS. 
Torrey & Blair, printers. 


1837. 


ti i ee 


. . 


; New Bedford, Sept. 27, 1837. 
Rey. and Dear Sir, 

The undersigned, clergymen of the Eastern Diocese, 
adopt the present method of expressing to you the satisfac- 
tion with which they listened to the practical and impres- 
sive views of ministerial character embodied in your Con- 
vention Sermon, and as we are precluded by a standing 
tule of the Convention from acting officially on the subject, 
we, individually, request you to furnish a copy of your dis- 
course for the press. Very affectionately, 

Your brethren in Christ, 

John West, John Bristed, Alexander H. Vinton, Eras- 
tus D’Wolf, S. G. Appleton, Wm. Horton, T. Edson, 
Jona. M. Wainwright, Alfred L. Baury, S. B. Babcock, 
Thos. M. Clark, Washington Van Zandt, E. Monroe, 
Thomas Peck, George Taft, James Pratt, J. P. Fenner, 
John S. Stone, Jos. H. Clinch, E. Livermore, G. W. 
Hathaway, M. A. D’Wolf Howe, George Waters, A. H. 
Cull, Dan’l Leach, Ira Warren, Thomas H. Vail, Sam- 
uel Fuller, Jr. 

—<p—_. 


New Bedford, September 28, 1837. 
Dear Brethren, 

The kind spirit with which my Sermon before the Con- 
vention was received, has been very gratifying to my own 
personal feelings ; and may also be regarded as evidence 
“of an earnest desire after holiness’? among the hearers, 
since even such plain and simple suggestions met with so 
warm a response. To be instrumental in awakening one 
holier purpose in any heart, is an honor which an angel 
might covet, and should this discourse, which at your re- 
quest is placed at your disposal, in any degree subserve this 
end, it will be a matter of thankfulness with me. With my 
prayers for a more sanctified influence, and increased re- 
ward for each one of us, I remain 

Your friend and brother in Christ, 
WILLIAM H. LEWIS. 


Rev. John West, John Bristed, Alex’r H. Vinton, &c. 


AUN LN USEF 


SERMON. 


<< 


St. Joun; 17:19. 


“ aND FOR THEIR SAKES I SANCTIFY MYSELF.” 


Success, alone can satisfy the devoted minister of 
Christ. To be found faithful might content him, but 
if unsuccessful, he can hardly feel assured that he has 
been faithful. Nothing short of evident fruits would 
have sufficed the ardent Paul, nothing less will meet 
the desires of those who breathe his spirit. 

But what minister is there, that knows not the 
anxieties of unsuccessful labor? We look over a 
world unreclaimed to God, and sigh te think, that 
when we would reach every human being with the 
sweet charities of the gospel, we can only soften here 
and there a hard heart under our own immediate influ- - 
ence, with the love of Jesus. We grieve, that the 
best of our years for usefulness are gliding away, and - 
the grave must soon close over us, while so little has 
been accomplished. Oh, tell me how I may win 
souls for Christ, is our anxious cry. Tell me how 
my ministry may be rendered more successful ? 

All who share such anxieties, will look favorably 
upon the present attempt to answer these inquiries. 


6 


The thought which I wish to impress in this dis- 
course is, that high attainments in holiness are most 
essential to ministerial success. 

‘“‘For their sakes,” says our Saviour, “I sanctify 
myself.” ‘This implies not merely, as many suppose, 
that he was set apart as an offering for the sins of the 
world ; for he adds, ‘ that they,” my disciples, ‘may 
be sanctified through the truth;” so that his sanctifi- 
cation and theirs seem to be of the same nature, be- 
cause spoken of without any distinction. Our divine 
Master sanctified himself, by resisting the temptations 
of Satan; by active obedience to God’s law; and per- 
haps, also, by a progressive work of sanctification ; 
for though perfect in childhood, he might become 
more so in degree in manhood ; as he grew in wisdom, 
though there was no folly in his infancy. But 
whether progressive, or not, it was by active effort, 
that he conformed himself to God’s law; and one end 
of all was, that he might benefit those whom he came 
to save. Behold, brethren, the spotless Saviour, sanc- 
tifying himself, that he might the more abundantly 
bless a lost world! How much more is this necessa- 
ry for the sinful creatures to whom the same ministry 
is now entrusted! Duty, example, and motive, are 
all presented in our text. 

1. That high attainments in holiness are necessary 
to our success, may be inferred from the fact, that 
God demands them from his ministers. 

God knows best what will accomplish the design 
of his own institutions ; and, above every thing else, 


7 


he requires his ministers to sanctify themselves. 
Holiness to the Lord was written in conspicuous let- 
ters upon the high priest’s mitre; holy vestments, 
frequent washing and sacrifices, declared that he 
would be sanctified among Jewish Priests and Levites. 
Holiness was the distinction and power of our great 
High Priest; for his miracles and teaching would 
have been as ineffectual as theirs who sat in Moses’ 
seat, and by their children cast out devils, unless 
attended with superior purity. ‘‘’Take heed to thy- 
self, and to thy doctrine,” was the apostolic caution ; 
*‘ for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself, and 
them that hear thee,”? And among all the recorded 
instances of divine judgments upon prophets and 
priests, we read of none but such as were inflicted for 
sin. A want of attainments in divine or human 
knowledge, or of the gifts of utterance, was never 
visited with God’s displeasure in the least degree ; 
while Korah, Eli’s sons, Judas, Caiaphas, Demas, and 
hundreds more, are examples of his wrath against 
ungodliness in his ministers. Laws of holiness en- 
joined upon the priesthood, were given‘ at the begin- 
ning of the Jewish dispensation, while schools of the 
prophets were of more recent date, and provisions for 
purity are much more abundant, than for instruction, 
throughout the whole Bible. We are not to infer 
from hence, however, that knowledge and gifts are to 
be despised ; for, . 

2. In the second place, holiness leads to that 
knowledge necessary to success in the ministry. 


tue 
3 ; 

One of the chief defects in preaching is the want 
of clear, discriminating, and expanded views of divine 
truth; so that the preacher might often reverse St. 
Paul’s assertion, and say to an intelligent Christian 
audience, Whom ye truly worship, Him I igno- 
rantly declare unto you. God will not bless a Christ 
crucified by a sermon, but that Christ crucified, re- 
vealed in his word. And our attainments in the 
knowledge of this great truth, will be in proportion to 
our personal holiness. An ungodly minister cannot 
comprehend it. ‘The Spirit will not reveal it to him. 
A holy heart cannot fail of knowing it. One eminent 
in piety cannot be kept in a state of spiritual igno- 
rance. If he knew not a letter of his mother tongue, 
when the grace of God first visited his heart, he 
would spell out the perfections of God in the heavens, 
he would catch and treasure up divine truth unheeded 
by other ears in the sanctuary; he would read it in 
the mysterious characters of the Spirit within his own 
soul, and, amid all privations, so digest and connect 
the great system of redemption, that learned divines 
might sit at his feet, and be taught by him. And even 
the union of great piety with high acquisitions in hu- 
man science is not so rare as is supposed. Learning 
and philosophy, in the eminently sanctified, are like 
small tapers in the sunlight; they are there as truly, 
and may shine as brightly, without attracting as much 
notice, as among the unsanctified, where there is no 
superior light. Many an one distinguished for piety, 
has also an extent of reading and reflection, which it 


9 


would be the ambition of a worldly mind to display, 
but which with him passes unnoticed to the grave, 
and is buried under the epitaph of a good man. Sin 
closed the door of knowledge in paradise, and ever 
since has kept it barred, and will, until universal ho- 
liness shall again unlock it, and open a thousand 
fields of science now unknown. ‘The scriptural 
theory of education, making clean first the heart, will 
one day be understood ; and it is a matter of regret, 
especially in theology, that it is now so little known. 
If we need, in our seminaries, professors to teach 
students how to barb the arrows of conviction, that 
want must be met by appointing one to lead them to 
greater attainments in holiness; and most happily, in 
our general seminary, this want has in a measure been 
supplied, by giving to one a pastoral care over the 
souls of those whose minds only before had been 
thought worthy of culture. Could we measure emi- 
nence in piety, the canon requiring literary attain- 
ments in candidates for the ministry might be repeal- 
ed ; for it is the ignorance, which is connected with 
pride and presumption, that is to be dreaded in the 
Church; and a holy man, whatever attamments he 
might lack, would bring no more reproach, and be no 
more to be dreaded, than the lowest angel among 
higher intelligences in heaven. A holy heart will not 
neglect any knowledge which can bear upon the re- 
covery of a lost world, will reject all useless studies, 
will possess the most powerful incentives to diligence, 
and consecrate all acquirements most effectively to 
2, 


10 


the furtherance of the Gospel. ‘The Church has noth- 
ing to dread from ignorance in the ministry; if it be 
a holy ministry. 

3. Again ; high attainments in holiness will secure 
those outward gifts and graces necessary to success 
in the ministry. 

Trace any defect in the manner and style of a min- 
ister, any thing objectionable in his public or private 
walk, and it will almost, invariably be found that a 
larger share of grace would have corrected it. The 
fear of man, displays of self, affected eloquence, tedi- 
ous prosing, tricks to catch applause, heartless cold- 
ness,—all would vanish; and the minister, clothed 
with holiness, would be invested with a dignity and 
grace which nothing else could impart. That unction 
in preaching, so much admired, so difficult of attain- 
ment, is grace in the heart, suffusing the countenance, 
and flowing forth in every look, and word, and ges- 
ture. Under the Law, great pains were taken with 
regard to the personal appearance of priests, but the 
Gospel oftener selects the rude in speech, and the 
despised, like Paul, in bodily presence, giving them 
holiness in a higher degree, as their compensative 
power. And let his natural disadvantages be ever so 
great, let him be like Baxter, a bleeding skeleton, or 
like Paul, contemptible in appearance,—let him be 
taken from low employments in life, and brought to 
minister to the refined and learned, the devoted ser- 
vant of Jesus will acquire enough of outward gifts to 
command attention, and to gain success ; and gifts are 


11 


desirable only so far as they secure this end. Better 
than the sword and pebbles of the'ancient orator, is the 
teaching of the Spirit; and all graces acquired in any 
other way are but tinsel, which will soon wear off, 
and disclose the base metal beneath. 

4, Again ; holiness in the ministry gives that confi- 
dence, which is necessary to success. 

It is manifestly allied with divine truth, and a 
standing miraculous attestation ‘of a mission from 
above. It is the broad seal of Heaven to our creden- 
tials, most difficult to be counterfeited. Even heath- 
en priests have felt it so necessary to their recep- 
tion, that they have aimed at the show of superior 
sanctity, though not with such success as when they 
have pretended to miraculous powers. One who can 
for years live blamelessly among his people, must gain 
their confidence. Even the wicked will esteem him 
as a man of God,.and ‘“ do many things gladly, know- 
ing him to be a righteous man.” Jesus, it is true, 
was despised of men, but not among the great majori- 
ty of his countrymen ; and even those, whose outrage- 
ous passions were too much opposed by him, to endure 
him, trembled as they laid their hands upon him. In 
this country, where Christianity has placed the re- 
straint of its decencies upon all, if a pastor meets with 
open contempt, or hears a disparaging remark upon 
his profession, he may generally be sure, that his own 
misconduct has lowered him, and given license to the 
tongue of the wicked. If there be any sin in- 
dulged by him, he-may be sure that they will find it 


, 


12 


out. Other men may have their secret besetments, 
which they can manage to conceal from the world ; but 
he will be read through and through by those pene- 
trating eyes, which are so constantly fastened upon him, 
and his most mortifying weaknesses will be dragged to 
light, and made more pubiic than the grossest offences 
of the worldling. And one sin divulged, will destroy 
confidence in his labors. He may preach, and pray, 
and exhort admirably ; but the wonder will be that he 
does not practise more. If we would neutralise all 
our efforts, brethren, let us cherish one sin, even down 
in the recesses of our souls, and the work of ruin will 
be accomplished. 

Nor can a minister have the necessary. confidence 
in himself, if destitute of holmess. God says to the 
wicked, ‘ what hast thou to do to take my law in thy 
mouth ?” and conscience says the same. It has been 
made a question, ‘ whether a preacher should ever go 


_ beyond his own experience in preaching P—he will not 


be likely to do it, whether he should or not. He will 
present truth only so far as he endeavors to practise, 
and rather discourage any thing further than he him- 
self aims at ; so that if we set our standard low, we 
shall hang as leaden weights on souls panting after 
perfection, and keep them down to our own wretched 
level of sinfulness. And sin indulged, will destroy 
our confidence in addressing them in private. Much 
is said of the difficulty of parlor preaching. We should 
find the gift wonderfully improved, by more of closet 
preaching to our own hearts. Jesus Christ found no 


13 


difficulty in introducing religion any where, and we 
know that when we live near to God, obstacles in the 
way of this part of our duty are more easily surmount- 
ed, and we can speak with freedom. The same man who 
will deal very plainly with his people from the pulpit, 
is often afraid to say the same in private, lest the ap- 
plication should be turned upon himself. Our prayer 
should be, ‘‘ Open thou our lips, O Lord,” by taking 
away our guilt, “and our mouth shall show forth thy 
praise.” 

5. High attainments in holiness qualify the minister 
to be an experimental guide. 

To make these attainments, we must know the depths 
of Satan, and the power of grace,—the lurkings of pride 
and selfishness, and the deceitfulness of sin,-—the evil of 
~ unbelief, and the gloom of despondency,—the comforts 
of prayer, and the preciousness of Christ. He, who has 
learned to pluck sin from his own heart, has gained in 
experience, what it was the glory of Infinite Wisdom to 
foreknow, and that which man could never teach. 
And when, in possession of this secret, he is placed in 
the pulpit, and begins to draw from his own heart, he 
will reach feelings, which the hearers themselves 
scarce knew that they shared,—he will force them to 
exclaim, “he told me all things that ever | did,”— 
and the “truth will commend itself to their con- 
sciences as in the sight of God.” The inquirer will 
find in that man a safe guide,—the doubting a skilful 
casuist,—the desponding a comforter,—and the saint 
of the Lord, a conductor to lead him one step higher, 


14 


piety, will gee find a case among all ie varied cir- 
cumstances of his people, where his own rich experi- 


ence will not furnish some guidance. And it will 


often be a matter of wonder with him, how all the 
dealings of God, in his whole private history, have 
been bearing upon his own personal sanctification, and 
thus qualifying him for usefulness. The regret is, 
that the experience comes so late, and that the skill 
which it gives us in handling the sword of the Spirit, 
is gained just as death relaxes our hold upon it. Let 
us remember that none but the experienced minister 
can be successful, and that none but the holy can 
become experienced. 

6. Again ; holiness renders the minister a prevalent 
intercessor with God. 

The last thing brought in judgment against those, 
who have the care of souls, may be, their neglect to 
mention their people in their prayers: while the first 
and heaviest charge may be against the spzrit of their 
petitions, and of the offerer. How shall we make those 
countless acts of intercession for our flocks, which we 
every day offer, more prevalent? how move that Spir- 
it’s influences, which alone can new create the sint er’s 
soul? Prayer prevails with God just in proportion as 
we are sanctified. The priest must offer a cleansing 
sacrifice for himself first, and then for the sins of the 
people. “God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a 


worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him God hear- 


aby 


By! 


15 


eth.” Itis “the effectual fervent prayer of the right- 
eous man that availeth much; ” and Jesus himself to be 
our intercessor, must be holy, harmless, and separate 
from sinners. With what hope could a criminal plead 
for a fellow criminal, or a disobedient child implore fa- 
vors ? while a son distinguished for filial piety, might 
ask a father and he would feel as if he could refuse him 
nothing. ‘“ When ye make many prayers,” God said 
to the Israelites, ‘I will not hear you, your hands are 
filled with blood.” “If we abide in Christ we may 
ask what we will, and it shall be done for us of our 
Father in heaven.” 

7. Moreover ; facts prove that the minister’s success 
is proportionate to his holiness. 

We have sometimes seen the servant of God, en- 
dowed with every advantage of natural and acquired 
talent, entering at the very commencement of his 
career, upon unbounded popularity, called to the high- 
est stations,—followed by admiring crowds,—and 
made the theme of universal discourse. But the fruits 
of his labors, where are they? We look for them in 
vain. Like the aeronaut he goes forth amid applause, 
but in a little time the crowd find that they have had 
but a profitless exhibition, and he himself shortly de- 
scends, amidst mortifying circumstances, to be the scoff 
of those who had just shouted his praise. He wanted 
that holiness which is necessary to sustained effort, 
and to draw down the divine blessing, and thus secure a 
lasting popularity, based upon usefulness ; for after all 
the ease with which mankind are at first led away by 


16 


appearance, they will in the end be content only with 
substantial profit. The minister, whom God blesses 
is brought forward in a different way. He may com- 
mence his labors in obscurity—scarcely known among 
his brethren, who dream not what an instrument for 
his glory God is preparing among them. But he is 
growing in holiness. Neglect and contempt subdue 
his pride. By withholding worldly honors, God teach- 
es him to disregard them, and to feel that the honor 
which cometh from above is enough. He is daily 
learning to live upon God and to God alone. As he 
can bear more of earthly distinction, without elation, 
it is suffered to come upon him. As the instrument 
is perfected, a large field of usefulness gradually opens ; 
and at the close of his career, he may have a name 
known and honored wherever goodness is prized,—_ 
and yet remain all uninjured by this popularity,—and 
blessed with a degree of usefulness which all admire, 
and for which he gives the glory to.God. \ Thus that 
ministry of Paul, the first years of which were passed 
as a neglected, suspected, and persecuted preacher in 
Arabia, Cilicia and Damascus, led him on, as he Ww 
sanctified for the Master’s use, through every renoy wv me 
city of ancient times, until converts every wheres fro 
the sandy desert up to Cesar’s household, blessed k 
name. Every one, from his own recollections, 
furnish similar instances ; for many now most honor 
in the Church have ian by a long series of humbli 1 
providences, and large measures of divine grace, a- 
tured in holiness, ere they reached that distinction. 


17 


It is vain to look for eminence in usefulness, 
where there is not maturity in holiness. God may 
use the preaching of a wicked minister for the:conver- 
sion of souls, but it is only as a chance arrow may 
hit the mark: that he wid/ use that of a holy man, may 
be a matter of calculation and certainty, like the aim 
of the trained marksman. Experience has established 
the general rule, that our success may be measured 
by our holiness, and our holiness by our success. Such 
arule may bear hard upon us, and we may be ready to 
raise as our shield, those oft repeated sayings of un- 
faithful ministers, concerning “ the seed long buried, 
and at last springing up,” and “the treasure being in 
earthen vessels,” and of the Gospel preached by men 
of like passions and infirmities ; but the rule is none 
the less true, because it bears hard upon us. ‘There 
have been exceptions to this rule ; and there are some 
in the Bible ; as the cases of Enoch and Noah. There 
have been instances enough like that of the malefac- 
tor’s late repentance, to keep us from despair, if ours 
be an unsuccessful ministry ; but not enough to en- 
courage indolence and presumption. ‘Ten thousand 
witnesses testify, that ‘‘ whom God sanctifies for his 
work, him he also glorifies with success.” 

We have seen that holiness in the ministry is ne- 
cessary to success, because God demands it ;—because 
it leads to those attainments in knowledge, and out- 
ward gifts which contribute to usefulness,—because 
it inspires that confidence, without which none can 
succeed,—because it makes us experimental guides, 


2 


v 


18 


and prevalent intercessors ; and because facts prove 
that the holy are successful. With these considera- 
tions before us, my brethren in the ministry, and with 
an eye of pity glancing over our fallen world, and a 
heart of love carrying us back to the beloved flock 
over which we are placed, can we refrain from saying 
with all our souls, “ for their sakes, I will sanctify 
myself.” If the salvation of men is so connected with 
my sanctification, here let sin die within my heart, at 
this altar let me for once say with unqualified assent, 
‘‘and here O Lord I present. unto thee, myself, my 
soul and body, to be a reasonable, holy and living 
sacrifice unto thee?” We of all others have peculiar 
and higher advantages for attaining holiness. We 
may think of special hindrances which none others 
share, but it would be denying the efficacy of the 
means of grace, in the midst of which we live ;—it 
would be asserting that the temptations of the world 
from which we are withdrawn, are not to be dread- 
ed—it would be accusing God of gathering where he 
has not strawed, when he demands superior sanctity 
in us,—it would be condemning the universal decision 


of mankind, and manifesting unthankfulness for our 


privileges, not to acknowledge that, of all in this sin- 
ful world, we can best escape its pollutions. Let 
superior holiness then be our distinction. ‘That min- 
ister is to be pitied who is characterized by any other, 
whether it be as a man of great intellect,—as a fine 
scholar,—or as an eloquent orator. If these are the dis- 
tinctive appellations always associated with the name 


19 


of a minister ; they are his shame, instead of his glory, 
for he has gained them at the expense of his piety. 
To be first mentioned as a holy man should be his ambi- 
tion. . This is a distinction which may be worn without 
envy. While the jealousy of little minds is always ~ 
hovering around greatness of any other kind, striving 
to pluck a feather, the man whose characteristic ex- 
cellence is holiness, may stand as an angel drawing 
admiration and attention, while detraction is silent ; 
and envy herself is ready to fall down and do homage. 
When attainments in mere earthly things come in con- 
trast with our own, it is self conflicting with self, and 
drawing away worship from one idol to another: but 
when holiness is manifested, it is God in the soul, and 
every idol falls before his reflected image. And the 
power of holiness for usefulness, is one which all may 
wield. We may see deficiencies in ministerial quali- 
fications which we can never hope to remedy, but all 
arms are of a length in reaching after holiness, and the 
more we are conscious of such deficiencies, the more 
should we seek after that which will most easily 
cover them. ‘Thank God, it is not by those things 
which his providence places out of the reach of so 
many, that the world is to be converted to himself, 
for then multitudes might despair. But if it be by 
sanctifying ourselves, a door of hope and usefulness is 
open to the humblest of us. Let it animate with a 
holy ambition after perfectness. Let our unceasing 
prayer be ; “*O my God purify and use me, in thine 
earthly service,—purify and use, purify and use, until 


20 


I am made a vessel of gold in thine house, sanctified 
and meet for the Master’s use ;—yea until as the last 
sin drops from me forever, (O blest hour, when the 
last shall release its hold!) I rise to thine eternal 
and perfect service in heaven.” TY 
And we ask the prayers of our fellow Christians, 
that we may be sanctified. ‘Their own interest sec- 
onds the appeal, for the ministers of Christ are the 
property of the Church, and all that advances their 
worth is the people’s gain. Much of remaining im- 
perfection will be witnessed, in the best of them, but 
their faults should no more be a matter of malignant 
triumph and detraction, than the wounds of a leader 
in the battle, should rejoice the hearts of his soldiers. 
It isa mark of true piety if we grieve over the failings 
of ministers, and pray much for their sanctification. 
But this subject has an application to every private 
Christian as well as to ministers, for they have the pow- 
er of holiness to exert, and it will give them suctess 
in the same ways. We want more of the co-opera- 
tion of pious laymen in our Church. And if they will 
come to our aid with that sanctified influence, which 
shall be divested of arrogance and spiritual pride, we 
shall hail the day, when the talents of our pious 
members of the Church, shall be consecrated to the 
Church in more prominent efforts for the service of 
our Redeemer. They are bound to make such con- 
secration. No prejudice against this—no frowns of 
ministers can release them from their obligation.— 
They will be ashamed to enter heaven, if they have 


21 


not endeavored to discharge it. One would think the 
angels might meet them and exclaim : “ live on earth, 
and do nothing for Christ!—live twenty, forty, or 
sixty years and not convert a soul,—live with the 
knowledge of Jesus, and not spread it,—live amid 
dying sinners and not strive to save them!”—and 
that then, they might withdraw with wondering 
looks, and converse apart upon the strangeness of 
the fact, more mysterious to them than the divine 
decrees which the poet represents fallen spirits of 
as discussing. We may enter heaven, as the poor of 
this world,—as the despised, neglected, and perse- 
cuted, and be none the less welcome ; but if we could 
enter thither, having done little for Christ, I know not 
where we should find society among those benevolent 
spirits above. Let us not, dear brethren, leave this 
world of sin with such a character. Let us sanctify 
ourselves, and carry hence, when we separate, an ex- 
tended hallowed influence for Christ. May we be 
found faithful in our respective spheres of duty, until 
called to that world where ‘he that sanctifieth, and 
they that are sanctified shall be one,” for our great 
Redeemer’s sake. AMEN. 


aT +: 


ee _ ieee ab 
he EE . 


| i 1D iat fuiwot | 
bie ie eae Holts | 
! Aa 
. gain ie 
Pia 
A 
s 


Che Trarvitions of Wien. 


DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED IN THE 


CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 


IN 


NORTH BRANFORD, 


January, 1833. 


BY JUDSON A. ROOT. 


NEW HAVEN: 
PRESS OF WHITMORE AND MINOR. 


1833. 


; 
: 
E, 
4 
f 


A DISCOURSE. 


Martuew xv. 6. 


Thus have ye made the commandmeni of God of none effect by your 
tradition. 


Tue Jews, in the time of Christ, pretended that Moses, in addition 
to the commandments of God, which were engraven on tables of 
stone, also delivered ora//y many precepts and instructions to their 
fathers, which had been transmitted in the same manner, from one 
generation to another, down to their time. These pretended in- 
structions, thus derived, they called traditions. Since the time of 
Christ they have been collected by the Jewish Rabbins and commit- 
ted to writing ; and the book composed of them is called the Talmud. 
The Jews were accustomed to regard these traditions as peculiarly 
sacred and important. And although in most cases they respected 
only the outward ceremonies of religion, and hence if they had been 
divinely appointed, (which is more than questionable with regard to 
many of them,) they would have been only of secondary importance, 
yet they were regarded by many, and by the vain Pharisees espe- 
cially, as of more consequence than the written law of God. So 
great was their regard for these traditions, that in their zeal to fol- 
low them, they had virtually set aside, and were living in the habit- 
ual violation of the plain commandments of God. The Savior, in 
his accustomed faithfulness, reproved them for this unauthorized 
and sinful practice, pointing them to a particular instance in which 
they had thus annulled a divine command ; and in the words of my 
text gave a plain statement of their conduct. 

But the Jews are not the only men who have shown a disposition 
to substitute something in the room of the pure Word of God. And, 
if I mistake not, it will be found upon examination, that there are 
those of our times who have their Talmud as well as their Bible; 
and that in cases not a few they do as really as those censured in 
our text, make the commandments of God of none effect by their 
traditions. 

To notice some of these, and to show how through their in- 
fluence the Word of God is set aside, or the force of its authority di- 
minished, and thus to make an application of this important passage 
to our times, is the object of this discourse. 

One of these, and one which has laid the foundation for some oth- 
ers, is this, that God could easily prevent all sin forever in the uni- 
verse. 


P ea . 
This is a tradition; or mere human opinion, — 
And the men who affirm it ought to prove their affirma * 
we do not affirm the contrary, and say that God could not aw 
all sin forever; or the present degree of it. We only sa that itis. 
possible that he could not forever prevent all sin in a moral system. 
It has never been proved that he coudd. And men should make no 
such affirmation unless they prove what they affirm. The subject 
has an important bearing on the character of God, and on human 
accountability ; and men should be very cautious what theories they — 
frame, or what speculations they make on a subject so important. 
We make no positive affirmations in regard to this subject. We 
dare not make any. For we knowtoo little of the matter to pretend 
to decide with certainty, either that God could, or could not, forever 
keep sin out of a universe of free moral agents. But we say it may 
be true that he could not. And until more is known on the subject — i 
than can be known here, men have no liberty to say that he could. 
And what is the evidence that men have relied on to justify them 

in this positive assertion? That which has been relied on as deci- 

_Sive in the case, and which the advocates of the theory have never 
supposed to be questionable, is the fact of God’s omnipotence. “ 
Scriptures seem to assert, without any limitation, that with al 
things are possible. And the opinion which men haye emb 
relation to our present subject, is founded, no doubt, "he 
coming reverence for this perfection of the Godhead. AndI¥ 
by no means, say any thing which shall in the least impair or. mS 
the degree of our reverence of any perfection of God. But most — 
obviously there are some limitations, even to omnipotence. Start- 
ling as the suggestion may be, still it is founded im truth; and the 
assertion may be made with reverence, and the truth of it may be — 
rendered evident, that there are some limitations, even to omnipo- 
tence. There are some things which do not come within the 
range of omnipotence; over which it has no control; and to which 
it has no relation. Let me illustrate the subject. If God were to 
exercise his omnipotence in an act of creation, the merest breath of 
his power would bring into being a world, and people it with multi- 
tudes in an instant. In a case like this he has only to speak and it 
is done. Here is a proper field for the exercise of omnipotence. 
And an act of power, an exertion of omnipotence like this, might 
probably be repeated at every succeeding instant, for a whole eter- 
nity. But suppose God were to utter his voice of omnipotence and 
command that any of the creatures he has made, should be both dead 
and alive at the same instant. Would the thing commanded be 
done? Is the thing commanded a possibility, even to omnipotence 
itself? Most plainly here is a limit to this divine attribute. Here 
is one thing at least, that omnipotence cannot accomplish. Suppose 
again, that God were to utter his voice of authority, and say, I 
hereby declare that henceforth it shall be right for my creatures to 
hate me, and wrong for them to love the perfect excellence and love- 
liness of their Creator; wouid the decision and determination of 
the omnipotent God change at all the nature of these actions of 


eg 5s AF 


s, and make it right for them to hate, and wrong for 
them to love the perfect excellence and loveliness of their Creator ? 
Most plainly, here again is something which omnipotence cannot 
effect. Let us suppose acase which brings us directly to our sub- 
ject; or rather, let us look at a case of actual occurrence. God 
has uttered his voice of authority in terms too plain to be misinter- 
preted, that all his creatures obey his commands; that all maintain 
a character of holiness. But the thing commanded is not done. 
And why is it not? Possibly for the reason that it is a matter be- 
yond the range of omnipotence ; over which it has no very extensive 
control; and to which it hasno particular relation. When we talk 
about God’s preventing sin, the question pertainsto the subject of God’s 
moral government of his creatures. And the influence used in gov- 
erning, is an influence consistent with moral action. Omnipotence 
~ is concerned in the creation of beings, and in upholding them in exis- 
tence ; but agovernment dy /aw cannot be administered by the mere 
dint of power; nor can obedience to law consist in any thing but 
the act of an agent who has power to disobey. Here, then, is nota 
proper field for any exercise of omnipotence, which crushes moral 
agency in the performance of moral action. Who ever thought of 
making great physical or muscular strength a qualification for a 
legislator or a magistrate; or estimated his success in preventing 
crime, merely according to the degree in which he was known to 
possess such qualification? Excellence in one who sustains these 
relations, consists in his superior knowledge, and wisdom, and integ- 
rity ; and notin his bodily strength. I would not, however, be un- 
derstood to mean, that the omnipotence of God is not in any meas- 
ure employed in his moral government of his creatures. In arran- 
ging and controlling their circumstances, and in bringing theinfluence 
of motives to bear upon them, and in securing their influence by the 
power of his Spirit, no doubt his omnipotence is employed. But it 
is not, and from the nature of the case cannot be employed in an ir- 
resistible influence in producing the obedience of his creatures as a 
mere passive effect, as it is employed in their creation. Indeed, it is 
quite possible and therefore supposable that omnipotence itself should 
be inadequate to secure the obedience of creatures, who, as free mor- 
al agents, can sin, and whose freedom omnipotence must not impair. 
When men say, therefore, that God could easily keep sin out of the 
universe forever because he is omnipotent, and because that with God 
all things are possible, they evidently say nothing to the purpose. And 
here is all the evidence for the support of this long established tradi- 
tion. And yet men have repeated it over and over again, as though 
the truth of it were settled by an indubitable declaration of God. 
But there are objections to this theory, which have been in some 
measure suggested in what we haye said, but which deserve a more 
particular specification. Such an objection is found in the very na- 
ture of a system of government by law. The subjects of such a 
system are free agents—beings endowed with the power of choice— 
and susceptible to happiness from objects which are placed around 
them to minister to theirenjoyment. The only influence which can 


- i 6 


be used with them to control their conduct, be of such a kind 
as is consistent with their free agency. hing like force or 
compulsion, is from the nature of a system of moral gove t, of 
necessity excluded. The appropriate influence to be used in gov- 
erning, is a moral influence ; ; that is, an influence consistent with free 
moral action. This is, and must be an influence on moral agents 
who can do wrong ; and of course, must be an influence which they 
can resist. The subjects of God’s government, are intelligent, vol- 
untary beings; and obedience to his law, must be an intelligent, vol. 
untary movement, which cannot be made without the influence of 
the motives addressed to them by their Lawgiver and Judge. Ai 
this plain, common-sense view of the matter, is in perfect correspon- 
dence with that of the Bible, on the subject of Divine influence in 
the production of holiness. Truth, is there expressly asserted to be 
the instrument by which the Holy Spirit subdues the opposition of — 
the sinner, and brings him to submission to God’s righteous will. 
Every thing which has any relation to the subject, corroborates the 
opinion, that a system of government by law cannot be admi stered 
without the influence of motives. Certainly there e 
ence used with them, which shall be inconsistent w 


of motives. Indeed, it comes not much short of a self 
that if intelligent beings are to be moved to an intelligent obedien 

it must be under the influence of motives presented before them, per- 
suading them to render it. And the degree of this influence must 
be limited to that which they are capable of resisting. For the mo- 
ment you suppose that they are pressed even with an influence from 
motives, so great that they have no power to resist it, that moment 
they cease to be free; and the system they compose,-is no longer a 
system of government by law, but one of compulsion or mechanical 
force. The very nature of a system of moral government, there- 
fore, requires that the subjects of it be left free. Their freedom of 
action must be left unimpaired. In all the circumstances of their 
being, they can, therefore, either obey or transgress. They must 
have, in all the circumstances of their being, power to obey, or their 
transgression is not a crime ; and power to sin, or their obedience is 
nota virtue. In every instance of accountable action, this freedom, 
this power of choice, must remain unimpaired and untouched, or they _ 
cease at once to be fit subjects of a perfect government. © And now, 
who is authorized to say, that God, leaving their freedom unimpaired 
—leaving them as he must, capable either of obedience or transgres- 
sion—who «is authorized to say, that he can use with them an 
influence of the kind we have been considering, and the only influ- 
ence which the case admits of, sufficiently powerful forever to insure 
universal obedience. Very plainly no one is authorized to make 
any such assertion. They can resist the influence. This must be 
admitted, or we must say their freedom is destroyed. And if they 
can resist effectually any influence which may be used with them, 
who can know or prove that in some instances, at least, they will not. 
And if no man knows this, or can prove it, who is aithieimed: with- 


Tae 
Ree 
7 ¥ 


out knowledge or evidence, to assert it? Very plainly every man 
is bound to say, that, if God permits such a system of free agents to 
exist, it is possible that no influence he can use with them as subjects 
of government, will forever insure universal obedience. And every 
candid man will say, that for aught that appears, sin may come into 
God’s kingdom, against all the influence which he can employ in the 
case to prevent it. ; ; 

But thisis not the only objection we have to urge against this the- 
ory. We derive another from the unequivocal expressions which 
God has made of his preference of holiness to sin. Just look at the 
movements of God in this world of apostacy and guilt. And whatis 
the one, great, commanding, absorbing subject of the mind of God. 
The object upon which his heart is set; the thing which he seems 
intent upon securing? The answer is obvious. It is to influence 
his creatures to do right ; to keep them from sin and from misery. 
God is seeking to glorify himself by securing, in the highest possible 
degree, the happiness of his creatures ; and their happiness by their 
holiness as the necessary means. What is his law which requires 
perfect holiness, but an expression of his preference for holiness to 
sin? It is not a law if it do not express such a preference. And 
look too at the sanctions of that law—the highest possible good and 
evil, promised and threatened, to deter from sin and to allure to obe- 
dience. And we seein the greatness of these sanctions, evidence, 
not of a slight preference, only a little remove from indifference with 
regard to the thing commanded, but ofa strong and decided preference 
for obedience tosin. Obedience is the thing which he seems intent 
upon securing. What is the atonement but a gracious provision, 
made at the expense of God, to recover men from sin, and from mis- 
ery, and to bring them back to holiness and to happiness. And the 
greatness of the sacrifice, shows the strength of his desire for their 
recovery—the strength of his preference of holiness to sin. And 
when we hear God using such language as this, “O that there were 
such an heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my 
commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their 
children for ever ;” who can doubt that he really, sincerely, earn- 
estly desires that they should all thus obey him—be holy and happy 
forever, rather than that they should sin and be miserable forever. 
When we hear him saying with moving entreaty, “Turn ye, turn 
ye, from your evil ways, for why will ye die;” who can believe 
that he does not most sincerely and earnestly desire that they should 
turn and live, rather than go on in their ways of evil and die. 
When we hear him using the forcible language of interrogation, 
saying, ‘“‘ Have | any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, and 
not that he should return from his ways and live?’ do we not hear 
him appealing to the very judgment of his creatures to decide, that 
he does ever prefer their obedience and happiness to their sin and 
consequent ruin. And is not the decision of such a preference 
awarded to him, they being judges. And when we hear him in the 
language of compassion, deploring the wretchedness of those whom 
mercy hath forsaken, ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest 


8 


" : rab 
the prophets, and stonest them that are serik: 
would I have gathered thy children togeth 


te loth gather her 
brood under her wings, and ye would not ;” who does not believe 
that he most earnestly preferred that they should have yielded to 
the influence which had been used with them to bring them to re- 
pentance and to heaven, rather than to resist and perish in their im- 
penitence. And when we hear him saying concerning his revolted 
people, in remembrance of his own efforts for their good, “* What 
could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done 
in it ;” who does not believe that he preferred their obedience to 
their sin, and that he had done all that he wisely could to prevent 
their sin. Such evidence as the foregoing shows, if any can show, 
God’s unqualified and strong preference, in all cases in which his 
creatures have sinned, that they should have obeyed. But does God 
desire an event with all this intensity of feeling, and will he leave any 
measures consistent with the greatest amount of good, untried to 
secure it? Does he so earnestly desire the universal obedience of 
his creatures to their disobedience, and is it so easy, as has been 


sincerity, if he does not secure a universe of perfe 
as it is said, itis so completely within his power, and w S 
of accomplishment—when he has only to speak and itisdone. We 
leave such questions for the advocates of that opinion to answer. And 


While he exhibits only an appearance of effort, a show of si 1 
for the welfare of his creatures, when he has no real desire - 
ference that the thing he appears so zealously engaged in should be 
done. Z 

I surely need not pursue this subject farther to exhibit its true 
character. Enough has been said to show, that men are wholly 
unauthorized in saying that God could keep sin entirely out of his 
kingdom. An opinion that has little more than the shadow of evi- 
dence to support it, and which is fraught with objections so impor- 
tant, should not be incorporated into our very creeds, and ranked 
among the doctrines of our faith. We surely have good reason for 
withholding our assent. And we should hope not to incur the 
charge of defection from tHe faith, if we venture to suggest that pos- 
sibly it may be that sm and the punishment of it are inseparable 
from a system of free moral agents ; that it may be that sin en- 
ters the kingdom of God against all the opposing influence which is 
possible to God and consistent with a system of government by law; 
and that the amount of holiness and happiness he will finally se- 
cure will be such as will show his power to bless. 

We ought not, however, to be misunderstood here, as we often 
have been, and be supposed to say that God could not have prevent- 
ed sinin any of the particular cases in which it has actually occur- 


9 


ed. It is probable that he might. Probably in any individual case_ 
in which sin has occurred, he might have so arranged the circum- 
stances with respect to the individual, and have so presented the 
motives to obedience, as to have prevented the sin. It is probable 
too, that if the same influence had been used to reclaim some who 
are lost, that have been used with effect with some who are saved, 
that these measures would have been effectual also in their reforma- 
tion. The Savior has explicitly asserted this of the inhabitants of 
Tyre and Sidon, who perished in their guilt. This point is an im- 
portant one ; and let me secure a clear apprehension of it by a plain 
illustration. Here is a human government organized. In its code 
is found a law forbiding murder, and threatening the violation of it 
with death. Suppose that the magistrate of this commonwealth 
foresees, that a few days hence one of his subjects will be tempted 
to murder. He foresees too, we will suppose, that he can so or- 
der his circumstances, and present motives to obedience, as to se- 
cure him from committing the sin. But he knows too, that in a fu- 
ture period of his administration there will be several others tempt- 
ed to the same sin, and that it will not be possible for him so to order 
their condition, and press them with motives to obedience, as to pre- 
vent their sin, provided he so changes his system as to secure the 
obedience of the first; and therefore, as a wise and benevolent man, 
resolyed upon securing the highest amount of obedience and happi- 
ness possible for him to secure, he determines to let the first men- 
tioned yield to the temptation, and become an example of warning 
to the others not to commit the offense, rather than so to change 
his system of administration as to prevent him. Now just ap- 
ply this to the divine administration. We say that it is probable 
that God might have secured from apostasy any individual who has 
apostatized. We have no objection to saying that possibly he might 
have secured aii in obedience who have as yet sinned: so that 
there should not have been, up to this time, a single instance of 
transgression, or a solitary example of punishment. But the ques- 
tion is, would it have been a wise and safe course of administration. 
May it not be, that an influence is now produced, by the course God 
has pursued in permitting the present degree of sin, and in exhibit- 
ing the evil consequences of it, which restrains, and which will ef- 
fectually and forever restrain greater multitudes, who but for this 
influence would transgress, and could not be restrained from trans- 
gression. It may be so. We do not affirm that itisso. We only 
suggest that it may be so.—We are willing to admit too the possi- 
bility that God might have brought to repentance and salvation all 
who have sinned ; even the apostate angels as well as men. But 
the question is would it have been a wise and safe course of admin- 
istration. Suppose he had done so: so that not a single example of 
punishment for sin had been known in his kingdom : not only no suf- 
fering for sin, but redeemed and recovered sinners actually enjoy- 
ing greater blessedness than they would have enjoyed if they had 
never sinned. For this is supposed to be true of redeemed sinners. 
Now suppose this had been done. And does not every mind see, _ 


2 


10 


that the law of God forbiding sin, and the penalty threatened against 
it, would have little or no restraining influence. ‘This is sufficient- 
ly manifest. It has become a well-established ‘principle in hu- 
man governments, that the exercise of the pardoning power is un- 
safe. And may it not be so in the Divine goverm 

it not be, that if God had brought all to repentance an 
any more than he has done, that greater evil would have 
unavoidable consequence. Our observations, therefore, let it 
understood, respect, not individual cases of sin, but his whole an 
dom, and that too in the whole extent of its duration. And all we 
say is, that it may be, that a system cannot be permitted to € xist, the 
subjects of which are free agents, and by any influence which is 
possible in the case, wholly and forever to prevent theirsin. But 
that there is good reason for believing that the present degree of sin 
and suffering which has existence under his government, and which 
will yet have existence, may be the least possible for God; and that 
the amount of holiness and happiness he has secured and will secure 
may be such as will show the measure of his power to produce. 
It may be so. No one is therefore at liberty to affirm that the con- 
trary is certainly true, and draw inferences from it which have an im- 
portant bearing upon the character of God, and upon human ac- 
countability, until he prove his affirmation. Yet this is a the- 
ory, the truth of which, many have never seemed to doubt, that 
God could easily prevent all sin and suffering in his kingdom for- 
ever. It is a tradition of men, or mere human opinion. And 
which in itself and as the foundation of others, has had no little idee 
ence in disrobing God of his glory, in impairing human accountabil- 
ity, and in making the Word of God of none effect, and powerless 
in its influence in bringing men to repentance and to God. 

Another tradition of men, which seems to have been founded on 
the foregoing, is, that God decreed sin and secured its existence, as 
the necessary means of the greatest good :—in other words it is said, 
that greater happiness will result to the universe from the existence 
of sin, than could have been enjoyed if the whole universe had forever 
remained holy ; and that God decreed and secured the existence of sin, 
because that greater happiness to the universe would be the consequence 
But how does this accord with the representations of Serip 
in respect to the feelings with which God looks upon sin. 
these representations most clear, and unequivocal, and decic 
he looks upon it with no complacency, but with the mos ie 
aversion and abhorrence. Upon what page of the Bible shal 
look for any different representation. Where does it say, or even 
obscurely intimate that sin is a good thing; and that God wishes 
his creatures should sometimes commit it, rather than obey him. 
But if it is the necessary means of the greatest good ;—if so much 
happiness cannot result to his kingdom without sin as with it, then 
verily is it a desirable thing ; and God as a benevolent being should 
be pleased with it, and should tell his creatures so ; and they, in- 
stead of being blamed for committing it, should be praised and re- 
warded, as the instruments of so much good. Every act of sin 


il 2 


that has ever been committed, is, on this scheme, a better thing, a 
more desirable event, than would have been an act of holiness in 
its stead; and they who have been the occasion of this greater 
good should receive the praise of God and of every benevolent 
mind. What shadow of sincerity is there in all God’s declarations 
of his abhorrence of sin; what justice in his denunciations of 
wrath against those who commit it, if it be necessary, the indispen- 
sible means of the highest good, and if he for that reason secures its 
existence. How by this supposition is the burden of the guilt of 
disobedience, and the conviction of ill-desert at once removed from 
the sinner ; and how isthe Godhead despoiled ofits brightest glories. 

From the testimony of Scripture, shall we turn to the evidence of 
facts for the support of this theory. But what is there from this 
source in its favor. Is it said, that the redeemed will enjoy greater 
happiness than would have been possible for them if they had never 
sinned? I know itis oftensaid so. But then we want proof of the 
assertion. I know it has often been said, as though it were an un- 
questionable verity. But it is far from being a self-evident propo- 
sition. It needs something besides mere assertion to sustain it. It 
is admitted, that the redeemed sinner may have different feelings— 
joys from other sources from what he would have had, if he had 
never sinned, and been the object of God’s forgiveness. But that 
his happiness will on the whole be greater than it would have been 
if he had always remained holy, and an object of God’s complacent 
regard and favor, is not so evident. But let it be admitted without 
proof, that the redeemed will be more happy, and enjoy a greater 
amount of blessedness than they would have enjoyed if they had 
never sinned. Let this be admitted: and the truth of the theory 
we are considering does not follow as a consequence, viz. that the 
amount of good enjoyed by the universe will be increased by the 
existence of sin and redemption from it. For, to say nothing of the 
diminution of the happiness of the holy and benevolent in heaven, 
as they look upon the fall and ruin of the finally impenitent; to 
say nothing of the agonies of the Son of God in the work of redemp- 
tion: yet there are a countless multitude who are shut out from the 
joys of God’s kingdom, and who will be forever sinking in the mise- 
ries of hell in consequence of sin. Their sufferings must be 
reckoned up, and the amount told, before we can decide whether the 
universe is, on the whole, rendered happier by the admission of sin, 
and the increased happiness of the redeemed. 

Besides, how is it possible for the redeemed to enjoy their 
supposed higher elevation, if they know that it has been purchased 
at the expense, and so great expense sustained by those who would 
otherwise have been forever their companions in blessedness. They 
are beings of perfect benevolence. They delight in the happiness 
of others as they do in their own. And now, unless] have ever 
misapprehended the nature of benevolence, I am prepared to say, 
without any hesitation, that it would be an impossibility for the re- 
deemed to enjoy an elevation of blessedness, purchased by the suf- 
ferings of beings whose welfare they value as theirown. Methinks 


“ 


12 


it is quite safe to make the appeal even to the imperfect benevolence 
of men in this world, and rest the decision of it there. No parent, 


not even the mother, with her ardent and ceaseless affection, proba- 


bly loves her child as she loves her own self. Strong as is her at- 
tachment, when the hour of trial came, she would probably give up 
her child to death, before she would purchase it at the expense of 
her own life. The purest and strongest affection of earth falls short 
of that of heaven. Yet imperfect as is the love of mortals, we are 
willing to make the appeal to their feelings, and rest the decision of 
the question under consideration with them. And where is the pa- 
rent who could enjoy any blessedness purchased by the sufferings 
of the child of herlove? The sight of that object in anguish before 
her, would change that blessing into a curse. And if such be the 
operation of the imperfect love of mortals, how can we suppose that 
the perfectly benevolent beings of heaven can enjoy an eleyation 
purchased by the sufferings of their once happy companions. The 
supposition is an absurdity : for the thing supposed is an ‘impossi- 
bility. Every harp of redeemed sinners would be unstrung; and 
every tongue would be silent; if they believed the sin and ruin of 
their companions, to have been the necessary means of their greater 
joy. 
And, besides, what has become of the justice of God, if the theory 
we are opposing be true? The advocates of this theory, suppose 
that God saw that if sin should be permitted to enter his dominions, 
the increased happiness of the holy in consequence of it, would more 
than counterbalance the misery of transgressors. For this pur- 
pose he determined so to arrange the affairs of his government, as to 
secure the sin and misery of some of his creatures. But what has 
become of God’s justice if such have been his dealings? What 
would you think of that father, who should decoy one of his obedient 
and unsuspecting children into transgression of his command, that 
he might seem to have cause for displeasure, and have a plausible 
pretext of sending him into banishment, and of bestowing the whole 
of his estate upon the rest? Where would be the justice of such a 
procedure, even though it be supposed that the increased happiness of 
the rest more than counterbalances the sufferings which their brother 
in exile must endure? You are all prepared to say that no father, 
who is guided by principles of justice in the administration of his 
affairs would ever do any such thing. And surely we must not 
impute to God a kind of conduct, which would be regarded as unjust 
and unholy if practised by men. From whatever point of view, 
therefore, we look at the opinion, that sin is the necessary means of 
the greatest good, we discover it to be radically imperfect. It is 
entirely discordant with Scripture, and at variance with the princi- 
ples of the Divine administration. It is a mere human tradition. 
And so long has it been received, and so oft repeated, that it has 
come to be regarded as an article of faith, standing along side of the 
pure doctrines of the Bible ; and he must be denounced as unsound 
in the faith, who shall dare to question its correctness. 


13 


Another tradition, which was probably derived as an inference 
from the one first considered, is, that another reason why God decreed 
sin, and secured its existence in his kingdom, was to give him an 
opportunity of displaying his perfections—his mercy in forgiving some, 
and his justice, in punishing the rest. A single glance at this theory 
will be sufficient to discover its deformity. We see God on the 
throne of the universe, legislating over a kingdom of obedient and 
happy subjects. He has transmitted to them a perfect system of 
rules for their conduct; and has thrown around them the whole in- 
fluence of his authority to secure their obedience. They yield 
a cheerful obedience to his authority ; and are perfectly happy in 
doing his will. The entire community of his subjects, all the dwell- 
ers in his wide-extended kingdom, look up to their Father on the 
throne, rejoice in his supremacy, and pay him the adoration, and 
the homage, and the love, of grateful, and confiding, and obedient 
children. And, according to the belief of the defenders of this the- 
ory, it were perfectly easy for God, for he is omnipotent, say they, 
to secure this state of things—this universe of perfect holiness and 
blessedness, unstained and untroubled forever. But he seems to be 
fearful that his subjects will not be thoroughly convinced of his good- 
ness. And he resolves to decoy off some of his obedient and happy 
subjects from their allegience to him, into the transgression of his 
commands, to give him an opportunity of making manifest his kind- 
ness for them, by making the sacrifice of his Son for their redemption. 
To show to a witnessing universe how very far he will go for their 
good: and withal, to make a display of his justice, and his soy- 
ereignty, in leaving some of them to perish forever. Were any hu- 
man governor to pursue a similar course, he would forfeit his repu- 
tation in the judgment of every virtuous citizen ; and who can believe 
this of the perfect God? Yet, this has seemed to be with many, 
a very favorite opinion ;—a darling theme ;—a subject, upon which 
they seem very happy to expatiate; that God has secured the ex- 
istence of sin with the sole intent of providing himself with an op- 
portunity to display Himself to a wondering universe. And the 
man has more than once been denounced as an heretic, who has 
dared to question the correctness of their belief. 

Let us proceed now to the examination of some traditions of a 
different class. One of them, and the first which I shall mention, 
is this, that the whole human race sinned when Adam sinned. 'The 
authors of so excellent a system of divinity, as in most respects is 
our Catechism, relate the sentiment after this manner: all mankind, 
descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell 
with him in his first transgression. Now this is not figurative lan- 
guage, but the plain statement of what they supposed to be fact. 
Their meaning lies on the very face of their words. This mean- 
ing the interpreters of that system of doctrines have affixed to the 
statement. Edwards, than whom our country has seldom produced 
a more profound theologian, gives such an interpretation. But 
great and venerable as is the name of Edwards, and profound and 
excellent as are most of his writings; learned and pious as were 


14 


the Westminster assembly of divines, and true and excellent, as in 
general, is the system of divinity they compiled, yet when they 
publish the sentiment that the race of Adam sinned hundreds and 
thousands of years before they existed; we may, as I think, without 
much irreverence or rashness, express our dissent. Were the 
combined piety and learning and talents of the world to coincide 
with them, and make this an article of their faith, still in the use of 
the plain common sense that God has given us, we must express our 
dissent. For, verily, we do know, if we know any thing, that the 
thing affirmed is an impossibility. This tradition, we trust, is not 
much held to at the present day. 

Another which has come in its stead, and which, in our judgment, 
is not much less absurd than the one whose place it supplies, is that 
we are born sinners: or that we are sinners before we sin. What 
is sin? Let an apostle answer. Sin is the transgression of law. 
Does this definition need any explanation? What is the trans- 
gression of law? What but doing that which God has forbidden : 
or, what is the same thing, refusing to do that which he requires ? 
Surely thisis all very plain. Sin is the transgression of law. We 
understand now what sin is; for the apostle, guided by the Spirit of 
Inspiration has told us. Is any one, then, I ask, a sinner before he 
transgresses law? Is any one a sinner before he sins? And espe- 
cially, are we born sinners? Upon the authority of an inspired 
apostle, are we not authorized in saying that any being must have 
some understanding of what is right and wrong before he can trans- 
gress law and-become a sinner? How is it possible for sin to per- 
tain to a being who knows nothing of law, nothing of right and wrong? 
The same apostle denies that it can: for he says again, where no 
law is, there is no transgression. And does not common sense teach 
the same thing? Suppose then, the infant, upon the day of its birth, 
before it has transgressed law—before it has acted either right or 
wrong—taken to the judgment seat of God, and there condemned 
asasinner. Suppose, also, by this change of place, his understand- 
ing had, upon the moment, become sufficiently expanded and enlar- 
ged to apprehend the sentence of his Judge. Would he plead 
guilty to the charge? Guilty of what! Heneverhassinned. And 
for what, he might ask, am I condemned: and for what could he 
feel guilty? Verily, my hearers, unbiassed common sense can come 
to but one conclusion on this subject. If the definition which the 
apostle has given of sin, have a meaning that we can understand, 
then surely we are not sinners before we sin: and the theory we 
are Opposing is not true. 

How comes it to pass then, we are asked, that all mankind do 
invariably sin, so soon as they act as moral beings? How shall 
we account for this fact, unless we suppose that they are created 
with a sinful disposition, which is the cause of their sinful acts? 
Must not the cause be like the effect? Must not the fountain be 
like the streams? And if the streams are sin, do they not prove the 
fountain to be sin? These questions are often asked as though they 
perfectly illustrated the case, and as though they carried with them 


15 


their own answer. And no doubt many have been deceived by 
them, and thus led to a wrong judgment in the case before us. __II- 
lustrations like this are very excellent in discussions of this kind, 
provided they are apposite to the case in hand; otherwise they do 
the more effectually mislead. Let us look at the example used for 
an illustration here. Is not the fountain like the streams? Yes, 
I answer. And if the streams be sin, do they not prove the fountain 
to be sin? Yes,I answer again. And I add, if the sinful actions 
of men are streams, and if the soul from which they proceed is the 
fountain that supplies them, why then, I admit that the fountain is 
sin: and the advocates of a propagated sinful nature have gained 
their point—their case is clear. Sin has run in the blood, or some 
how else from Adam untilnow. But if the thing supposed for illus- 
tration has no resemblance to the thing to be illustrated, why then 
we have only to say that they must get a better, or they have pro- 
ved nothing. But it is asked, must not the cause be like the effect ? 
I know that by many it has seemed to be regarded as a self-evident 
truth, which cannot be rendered more evident by proof. But I 
shall venture to deny that it is always so, and will show you 
the instance. Take the case of the first sin that ever had existence. 
Was the cause like the effect in that instance? ‘The effect was 
sin: but was the cause sin? Was there sin in existence before the 
first sin, which was the cause of it? Here most manifestly was sin 
as an effect, without sin as acause. And it proves that when men 
draw conclusions on the subject before us, and assert the existence 
of a propagated sinful nature which is the cause of our sinful acts, on 
the ground that the cause must be like the effect, they draw con- 
clusions from false premises; and their conclusions are as false 
as the premises. And it proves too that the sinful actions: of 
men now may proceed from something beside an hereditary sinful 
nature as its cause.—But does the question again come back, how 
shall we account for the fact, that all do invariably sin ‘as soon as they 
can, unless we suppose an inherited sinful nature? [say in reply to 
it that it is not my business to-day to publish any theories of my 
own on this or any other subject : but to expose what I deem to be 
the false theories of others. With regard to the fact that all do sin 
as soon as they act as moral beings, we are agreed. We admit the 
fact. But whether we can give a satisfactory reason for the fact is 
another thing. Perhaps wecannot. Possibly we know not enough 
about the subject to tell how it certainly is. And ifsome, in attempt- 
ing to account for the fact, say that it must be because God created 
us with a sinful nature which is the cause of our sinning, and if we 
think their reason is an absurd one, and withal dishonorable to God, 
we have a right, and we are bound to say so. And we may do it 
without being obliged to give any other reason which shal/ account 
for the fact. For it may be that we cannot: and should we attempt 
it, possibly we might run into as groundless absurdities as they. 
The most that we have to say on the case at present is that we 
do not like the reason which they have assigned. And ought we to 
incur the charge of heresy for having ventured to say that possibly 


16 


their reason is not according to truth? For we can say this 
much, with certainty: that sin can originate in something besides 
a sinful nature. For it didin Adam. It did in the a 
They were not sinners before they sinned. And if any one will at- 
tentively consider how their sin did originate, he may be led to a 
correct solution of the question how it originates now. 

Nor ought we to pass this place without just mentioning a senti- 
ment of recent origin, which seems to have been adopted by some in 
the place'of the tradition last noticed ; viz. that moral agency is co- 
eval with existence: or more particularly, that the infant begins to 
act as a subject of law, and an accountable being, and acts wrong; 
becomes a rebel against God, and a sinner by his own acts, at the 
very moment of his existence. We feel little inclination to multi- 
ply words on this subject ; and less still to make it a matter of con- 
troversy ; for we see no very great harm that is likely to result from 
belief of the sentiment. If others think they have evidence suffi- 
cient to justify them in the belief and adoption of the sentiment that 
the infant transgresses law, and becomes a rebel against God at the 
very moment of its birth, why let them believe and adopt it. We 
feel more inclined to pity than to complain. We only object to 
their complaining and denouncing if we say we do not see evidence 
of the fact sufficient to command our belief; and if we feel obliged 
to say that we cannot tell the precise time when moral agency and 
sin do commence. 

Another tradition connected with the foregoing is this, that some 
who have died in infancy are probably in heaven, and others in hell. 
And all we have to say with regard to it may be said very briefly. 
We undertake to show neither the truth, nor the incorrectness of the 
assertion. For we know nothing about the facts. God has made 
no particular revelation on the subject... And we are willing to leave 
the subject of the future condition of infants, just where God has left 
it :—in the secret counsels of his infinite wisdom. 

And dismissing the subject thus briefly, let us turn our attention 
to another tradition of more pernicious tendency, viz: that the sinner 
has not power as a moral agent to repent, or do any thing good. ‘There 
are probably, very few sentiments that have produced more fatal 
consequences than this. It has been one of quite extensive prevalence. 
Wherever it has been believed it has to a great extent blunted the 
edge of divine truth, and made of none effect the most plain and pos- 
itive commands of God. And how could it be expected to exert a 
better influence. For just tell the sinner that he is unable to re- 
pent, and submit to God and love him, and if he believe you, he is 
at once quieted well nigh beyond the reach of further excitement. 
Commanded as he may be by the living God, his Creator and Judge, 
to repent and love and obey him, he is impenetrably shielded from 
the force of the command, for he has no power to do what God re- 
quires. When he is told, furthermore, as we have already seen, 
that God, for various reasons, prefers his disobedience and con- 
firmed impenitence and ruin, to his obedience and salvation, he is 
led of course to suppose that God has other intentions to answer by 


17 


his commands than to secure his obedience. Thus he sleeps on 
in sin. And it is only when conscience, doing in some measure its 
office, and his consciousness and common sense coming in to its aid, 
unite in setting aside the perverted decisions of a perverse heart, and 
assure him that he is a free agent, and capable of obedience to God’s 
commands, it is only then, that he is brought to consideration, and to 
tremble in view of the just displeasure of God, and to cry out with 
the solicitude of one who feels himself in peril, “‘ Whatshall I do to 
be saved?” And that sinners have ever been converted where 
such sentiments have been’ believed, is no doubt owing to the fact, 
that conscience and their better judgment have got the better of the 
influence of their theology, and made them feel that God’s com- 
mands were just, for they were addressed to beings who could obey 
them—that they were guilty in their disobedience, and must submit 
to God in the way of his appointment or perish. 

Now who soberly believes such an opinion as that sinners have 
no ability to obey God’s commands? Who can believe it and en- 
tertain any correct views of the perfections of God? A holy God 
commanding, with every variety of utterance, as though determin- 
ed on being understood, commanding that men repent and love him, 
and showing the sincerity and the earnestness of his feelings that they 
yield the demanded obedience, by annexing to his commands the 
highest possible sanctions which God can execute, and yet is it true 
that they have no power to obey Him! Must they wait for Him to 
do something, which shall give them the power, before they can 
yield the obedience demanded! No man can for a moment, look 
at the commands that are addressed to the sinner, and consider the 
perfections of the Being who has addressed them, and believe that 
he has no power to obey Him. For one of two things is true: 
and every mind sees it. Either man has power to obey, or God is 
unjust in commanding him. One side or the other of this alterna- 
tive must be adopted. 

Nor need we be in a moment’s suspense which side to adopt, 
if we look at the import of the command addressed tohim: “Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” This 
is one of the two commands which summarily comprise the whole 
duty of mans What is its import? It does not say love the 
Lord thy God with the powers of an angel or of any other be- 
ing; but with all shy heart, and with all éhy soul, with all thy 
strength, and with all thy mind; i. e. exercise this affection in the 
purest and highest degree of which you are capable. In plain 
language, love Him as well as you can. And cannot the sinner 
love God as well as he can? The question is answered by ask- 
ing. And why should we hesitate in expressing our dissent from 
the theory, that the sinner has not power to love God, or repent, or 
obey any Divine command.—Nor need we look even so far as this 
to see the falsity of this theory. We need only look at the capa- 
bilities of obedience, in the same being before and after regenera- 
tion. What new powers are ever communicated to any man for 


18 


obedience to God, by this change of heart or will? We appeal to 
the consciousness of any man who has been the subject of this 
change. Of what new powers, we ask, are you now possessed to 
obey God’s commands that you did not possess before regeneration ? 
Are you conscious of possessing any new faculties? Are you con- 
scious of possessing any thing new, but a new disposition—a new 
heart—a different will? Do you not know that before the change 
you had power to obey any command that God addressed to you ? 
Do you believe that if God had called you into judgment before that 
change, that the thought would have entered your mind to plead 
before him in self-defense that you had not power to obey him? 
From whatever point of view we look at the opinion that sinners 
cannot obey God’s commands, we discover its falsity. A sinner 
has just as much power to obey God asa saint. Let sinners be for 
once brought under the influence of a settled conviction of this 
truth, then let them see how they have all their lives disobeyed the 
commands of the benevolent God, with every power and every in- 
ducement to obedience, and then if ever will they begin to feel guilt. 
Then show them that such is their depravity—so perverse is their 
disposition—so determined are they upon forbidden indu!gence, that 
they never will submit to God without his subduing Spirit, and that 
by this perverseness they cast themselves entirely on his sove- 
reign mercy, and rest entirely the question with Him, whether they 
shall ever receive the influence of his Spirit, and be brought to re- 
pentance and salvation, and then if ever will they tremble and ne- 
ver rest till they yield themselves to Christ and rest in the everlast- 
ing arms. Not until the false theory we are opposing can be torn 
away from the embrace of the sinner, can the naked point of the 
sword of the Spirit enter his soul; and the renewing, saving influ- 
ence of the gospel of salvation bring the hearts of men into subjec- 
tion to its pure and peaceful control. 

Another sentiment, as far aside from the truth as the foregoing, 
and not much surpassed by it in the amount of its pernicious influ- 
ence, is that the unregenerate must pray, and use the other means of 
grace with unholy hearts, as the means of their conversion. They 
are told of course, at the same time, and in this they are told the 
truth, that their prayers are an abomination in the sight of God. 
That every thing they do while in an unregenerate state is sinful 
and displeasing to God. Yet they are told that they must repeat, 
and continue to repeat these wicked services as the means of their 
conversion. In other words, they must do evil that good may come. 
Now what palpable inconsistency is here. What is the reason, my 
hearers, that men have seemed so determined entirely to dismiss 
their common sense in matters of religion, and run into a multitude 
of strange absurdities? What is the dictate of common sense on 
the subject? What would you say to your child in a similar case ? 
He has been long in a course of disobedience and opposition to your 
will ; and now begins to feel the need of effecting a reconciliation ; 
and how shall he be told to obtain it? To go to you with his un- 
humbled heart, with no emotions of penitence, with the same spirit 


19 


of disobedience, and in that state of heart to ask your forgiveness? 
Would any parent think of requiring such a heartless petition from 
his child, or accept it, if it were a hundred times repeated? Would 
he not look for some symptoms of penitence, and some confessions 
of guilt made in sincerity, and some promises, hearty and sincere of 
new obedience, before he listened to his petitions for pardon? The 
matter is a plain one. Then why not deal thus with inquiring sin- 
ners; and tell them as the first thing to be done, to submit to God’s 
righteous and benevolent will; to give up their opposition ; and with 
penitence and humble confession and resolutions of obedience, lift 
up the cry to God for mercy: and not for days and weeks and 
months, with hearts rankling with enmity against a holy God, re- 
peat their wicked prayers and services, with the vain hope that by 
so doing He will be induced to show them favor. 

Another of these traditions which has long disfigured the system 
of those esteemed orthodox, respects the kind of agency which the 
Holy Spirit exerts in the work of regeneration: importing that it is 
an immediate act of Almighty power upon the heart of the sinner in 
which he is entirely passive: and which is absolutely necessary to 
capacitate him to be affected by truth. Now against such a notion as 
this we have several strong reasons, for urging our dissent ; some 
two or three of which I will mention. The first is this: With what 
semblance of propriety does God command sinners to give heed to 
his truth, be moved by its influence, and yield obedience to his pre- 
cepts, if it be first necessary for Him, by his Spirit, to exert his al- 
mighty power upon the sinner’s heart, to capacitate him for being 
affected by the truth? With just as much propriety might you 
command the services of your child, while he is bound hand and foot, 
without the power of relieving himself. At the first glance, there- 
fore, we find that they who advocate this theory dishonor God. 

In the second place, it may be alledged against it, that it supposes 
a kind of agency which the sinner cannot resist: and nothing is 
more plainly taught in scripture than that the agency which the 
Spirit does exert upon the heart of the sinner, whatever it may be, 
is resisted. ‘‘ Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers 
did, so do ye,” said the martyr Stephen to his murderers. - Further- 
more, how frequently are men urged in the scriptures not to resist 
the Holy Ghost: “ Quench noi the Spirit :” “‘ Grieve not the Spirit 
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Now 
if the agency which the Spirit exerts be that of irresistible power, 
we can see no good reason for all these scriptural representations ; 
and why should the sinner be accused of the guilt of resisting this 
influence, and warned not to do it, if it be irresistible ? 

But we urge in the third place, as a stronger objection still, the 
positive declarations of scripture, that the Spirit of God converts 
men through the truth. Such a passage is this: “ Of his own will 
begat he us with the word of truth:” and this; “ Being born again 
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God.” 
The word of God is elsewhere called the sword of the Spirit: the 
instrument by which He subdues the opposition of the sinner, and 


20 


brings him in humble submission at the feet of the Savior to plead 


for forgiveness. 

Without urging other considerations against the theory before 
us, we leave it for every one to decide for himself, whether the 
Holy Spirit converts men by an immediate act of almighty power 
in which they are passive, and which they cannot resist, or whether 
he comes to them as rational and susceptible beings, the subjects of 
law and government, and by motives drawn from God’s word, and 
an influence adapted to their natures and conditions, brings them to 
conviction of sin, and to submission to God. We leave it to be de- 
cided by every one for himself, whether the man, who, with such 
reasons as the foregoing, expresses his dissent from the theory we 
are considering, deserves to be denounced as a bold speculator and 
blasphemer. 

We hasten to a brief consideration of another of these traditions 
of men, to wit, that Christians, in this life, cannot be very holy. It 
is expressed in these words by the Westminster assembly of divines ; 
‘“« No mere man since the fall, has been able in this life perfectly to 
keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in 
thought, word and deed.” The sentiment of the last clause, that 
every man does break them daily, is no doubt, according to truth. 
But, in our apprehension, nothing is further from the truth, than the 
sentiment that he has not been able to keep them. Where in the 
whole of God’s revelation is it said that men are not able to keep 
his commands? Where in the whole of God’s administration over 
men has he treated them as though they could not? Rather is not 
the whole word of God, and all his treatment of men founded upon 
the assumption of the fact that they are capacitated for obedience ; 
and as such are addressed with the commands of their Creator and 
Judge? Moreover we find specific precepts from God, requiring 
the very perfection of character of which we are speaking. ‘“ Be 
ye holy, for 1 am holy.” ‘Be ye perfect, even as your father in 
heaven is perfect.” 

Nor need we turn a single step either to the right hand or to the 
left for evidence to show the incorrectness of this theory. We have 
it in the bosom of every man: and it were quite sufficient to appeal 
to the bosoms of men; and safe to rest the decision of the question 
there. We lodge the appeal with any man, and ask him whether 
in every instance of conduct in which he has done wrong, he might 
not have done right? Whether if he were arraigned before God’s 
tribunal, and charged with guilt and condemned, he would think of 
pleading in self-defense that in any, even a single instance of trans- 
gression, he had not power to obey ; whether he was laid under any 
necessity to sin? And the decision which every man has passed on 
the subject, we venture to affirm, is in direct opposition to the opin- 
ion that men are unable to keep the commandments of God; and 
ree that it is a mere human opinion, and not the testimony of 

od. 

But I ought here, in passing, as I have made occasional reference 
to the Catechism, to guard my hearers from misapprehending my 


¥ i 


21 


sentiments with regard to it, for they have been formerly misrepre- 
sented, and may be again. I therefore say, once for all, that I re- 
gard it in general as a most excellent compend of divinity ; in ac- 
cordance with the pure doctrines of the Bible. There are nine 
tenths of it, and perhaps ninety-nine hundredths to which I see no ob- 
jection ; with which I most fully concur. It is, however, a human 
compilation: the work of fallible men: and we are to use our own 
reason certainly in deciding whether this or that part of it be ac- 
cording to truth. Its style is, however, much better adapted to the 
capacities of parents than of children. And it were well if it were not 
so generally dismissed from the mind as of no further use the mo- 
ment that childhood is past. 

With arapid glance at one other false sentiment which has gained 
some currency, I must close this discourse. It is this; Whether 
Christians shall be revived and sinners awakened, depends on God’s 
sovereignty ; and they must quietly wait for his blessing. Many 
seem to view their dependence in this matter, (and it is to this 
view of it that we object) very much in the same light that they do 
their dependence on God for rain, or any gift of his providence. If 
God in his mercy shall pass this way with the cloud of Divine influ- 
ence and cause it to descend upon us, we shall be revived and sin- 
ners will be converted. But if in his holy sovereignty he pass by 
us, and leave us; he is just in so doing; we have no ground of 
complaining ; we must submit to his dispensation, and patiently wait 
till in mercy he visit us. Such language as this is heard from the 
lips of God’s professing people in cases not a few. And why should 
they not entertain this sentiment? It is only a legitimate inference 
from their false theories which we have examined; and it must 
stand or fall with them. If Christians in this life cannot be very 
good; and if the unregenerate have no power to do good at all; if 
regeneration is the effect of an immediate act of almighty power on 
the heart, in which the sinner is passive ; and if, in a word, the 
whole subject of religion is a mere fatality, and all the movements 
of it the mere movings of irresistible power, why we must expect 
just such inferences from these sentiments as the one under considera- 
tion. Man is a mere pitiable object: bound in the strong cords of 
an invincible fatality ; and waiting, and patiently waiting for God 
to release him. But where in the whole of God’s revelation to men 
shall we find any thing that gives license to such sentiments as these ? 
Where is it said, or even obscurely intimated, that Christians must 
wait, in the sense we have considered, for God to revive them; or 
that sinners must wait in impenitence for God to awaken and convert 
them? 

Now in opposition to all this notion of fatality about the subject 
of religion, how freely, and withal how invitingly, does God present 
salvation—life eternal, to every dying man. ‘ Whosoever will, let 
him take of the waters of life freely.” And who is there, I ask, 
that cannot if he will; yea more, who is there that cannot if he will 
not, take and drink and live forever? In all my exhibitions of di- 
vine truth, I feel constrained, such are nya its clear import, 


a 


29 aN 


to tell the sinner, that God has offered hima free salvation ; and that 
it is his fault, and his alone if he shall finally perish. I feel bound, 
in justice to the truth, and to the God who has published it, to en- 
deayor to throw off the reproach which men have cast on God by 


making Him the author or the abettor of sin. I feel bound, wipe 
L his 


the word of God for my guide, to tell man that his guilt is al 
own; and that it is in consequence of none of God’s doings or de- 
signings that he is brought under its curse. I would make the hum- 
ble endeavor to tear from the heart of the sinner every false cover- 
ing, and expose him naked and defenseless to the sword of the Al- 
mighty. I would remove from under him every false and fatal de- 
pendence, and press him down with the weight of God’s violated law, 
in the full measure of its righteous authority. O let God have his 
rightful seat, on his throne of benevolence, dispensing his gracious 
favors to the subjects of his universal kingdom ; with paternal kind- 
ness urging them to be happy, and radiant with the glories which 
beam from his acts of beneficence. And let guilty man eyer be de- 
based, where his voluntary depravity has brought him; the self- 
made victim of the evils he suffers, and too depraved to lift up one 
humble, sincere petition for salvation. 

My object in this discourse is two-fold—to defend the truth for its 
own sake, and to give my people a particular understanding of the 
grounds of controversy in the churches of the present day. The 
charge of heresy, of defection from the faith has been for some time, 
as you know, made against the Instructors in Theology in the Sem- 
inary in this vicinity, and against their disciples, of whom I claim 
the honor of being one. And certain men in our churches, with the 
design of doing God’s service, I would hope, have very industriously 
employed themselves in exciting suspicions, and in making it seem 
that we are unsound in the faith: that we teach doctrines that are 
not according to godliness; and that we refuse to teach those that 
are. With regard to all this 1 have only to say, that the subjects 
to which I have adverted in this discourse are those upon which we 
are condemned. And what appears to be our crime? » Why when 
others, in their discussions have run into speculations and framed 
theories which we deem contrary to Scripture, dishonorable to God, 
and evil in their tendency, we have not dared to follow them; and 
have ventured to suggest that possibly their theories are not founded 
in truth. This is the amount of our offending. Ifwe have offend- 
ed further than this, we would hope to be convicted of error before 
we are condemned. Verily, my hearers, it seems that we are the 
men to sound an alarm of evil, if there is cause for alarm. In 
thus expressing our dissent from their opinions, we have, we ac- 
knowledge, dissented from the opinions of some good men; but 
whether we have departed from the faith once delivered to the 
saints, or come nearer to it, we leave for you to judge. When we 
are thus arraigned before the tribunal of the public, and the eye of 


a 


suspicion is turned upon us, and the confidence of the public in the 


soundness of our faith is weakened, and our usefulness of course di- 
minished, we owe it to the cause of truth, we owe it to those over 


r 


Be 


whom we are set as teachers, we owe it to ourselves, to demand that 
we be convicted of error, and convicted by the Bible, before we are 
condemned. Certainly we may claim this common privilege ; and 
the judgment of candid men will grant it. This is all we ask or wish 


23 


_ inthe matter. With the Bible will we endeavor to defend our sen- 


timents : and by this standard alone, and not by the traditions of 
men, we claim the right of being judged. And whoever may 
be in the right, or whoever in the wrong, let the ruth prevail: and 
this is our consolation, brethren, that it will prevail. 


ON COMING UNWORTHILY TO THE LORD'S SUPPER. 4 


‘ 


e ¢ 2 


BY JAMES MURDOCK, D.D. 
Brown Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Theol. Seminary. 


Published at the request of the hearers. 


ANDOVER: 


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1827. as ow 


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fv Lo, Gear Sige 

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ADVERTISEMENT. 


The following discourse was composed for a sacramental occasion in the Theological 
Seminary, where it has been twice delivered from the pulpit. During the last two or three 
years, many of the students have desired to peruse the manuscript ; and at one time, they as 
a body requested its publication. On its being pronounced before the people lately under the 
care of Dr. Edwards, more than fifty members of the parish came forward the next day with 
a liberal subscription, and requested that the sermon might be printed. Such is the history 
of the sermon and of the causes leading to its publication. 


SERMON. 


1 Cor. x1. 29, 


HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINK 
ETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY. 


Tue history of the opinions and practice of 
professed Christians, in regard to the Lord’s Sup- 
per, contains an account of gross superstitions on 
the one hand, and of irreverent profanations of the 
ordinance on the other. The Corinthians, even in 
the Apostles’ days, profaned the ordinance, by ob- 
serving it, much as their heathen neighbours ob- 
served their idolatrous feasts. A large part of the 
Egyptians, likewise, made the Lord’s Supper an 
appendage to a common banquet.’ On the con- 
trary, some of the Gnostics, like the modern Qua- 
kers, did not observe this ordinance at all.?_ In the 
Catholic church many superstitious rites, borrowed 
from paganism, were at an early period joined with 
it. At length, in the hands of the Papists it be- 
came totally unlike the holy ordinance which Christ 
instituted. Both its form and its spirit or import 
were changed. It was no longer a sacred supper, 


1 Socrates Scholast. Eccles. Hist. L. V. c. 22. 
2 Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnians, § VJI. with the note of Cotelier, 


4 


observed in remembrance of Christ ; but the sol- 
emn adoration of a wafer, considered as being the 
real body of Christ, offered afresh as a sacrifice to 
God. Real merit was also ascribed to the mere 
ceremony of this imaginary sacrifice. ‘The Protes- 
tants have from the beginning, discarded the idea 
of a literal sacrifice: yet they have too generally 
ascribed to the ordinance, a mysterious efficacy 
upon the soul of the communicant ; and of course 
have regarded it with an awe too nearly resem- 
bling that of the Papists. Many a trembling saint 
has been afraid to approach it, lest coming unwor- 
thily, he should seal his own pamnation. Others, 
from a belief that this ordinance was intended only 
for the most eminent saints, or for such as were 
certain that they were born again, have quieted 
their consciences, while disobeying a command 
which Christ addressed to all his followers: “ Do 
this, im remembrance of me.” It was an appre- 
hension of a superior sanctity in this ordinance, be- 
yond that of Baptism, which at one period led most 
of the New England churches to adopt two cove- 
nants, and to divide their members into two classes, 
such as observed only Baptism, and such as came to 
both ordinances. On the other hand, some church- 
es in America as well as Europe, admit all the 
members of the congregation to this holy ordi- 
nance. By many it is regarded as a mere ceremo- 
ny; and some do not scruple to attend on it occa- 
sionally, as a legal qualification for public office. 


+) 


Among the declarations in the Bible, which 
have most embarrassed the pious, the text has, I 
apprehend, the most frequently and the most un- 
reasonably burdened the consciences of the hum- 
ble disciples of Christ. I therefore design to in- 
vestigate, and as far as I can to ascertain, its true 
meaning. 

“ He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth 
and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning 
the Lord’s body.” 

Two inquiries arise; viz. 

I. What is it, to “eat and drink unworthily ?” 

II. In what sense, will a person thereby “eat 
and drink damnation to himself ?” 

To answer the first inquiry, or to ascertain 
what it is to “eat and drink unworthily,” we may 
either consider the nature and design of this 
ordinance ; or we may inquire into that abuse of 
it by the Corinthians, which drew from an Apostle 
the declaration in the text. 

When we consider the nature and design of the 
ordinance, we find it to be a memorial of the cruci- 
fixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of this we have 
clear evidence in the declarations of the Saviour 
himself. When he presented the bread, he said: 
“ Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for 
you: this do in remembrance of me.” And when 
he presented the cup, he said: “This cup is the 
new testament in my blood: this do, as oft as ye 
drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as 


6 


ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew 
the Lord’s death till he come.” ? . 

Jesus Christ is that “ Lamb of God, which tak- 
eth away the sin of the world.” “ His blood clean- 
seth us from all sin.” And “there is none other 
name under heaven given among men, whereby we 
must be saved.” * Thus the death of Christ is the 
corner stone of the whole scheme of salvation. It 
is this, which makes Heaven propitious to us. It 
is this procures for us all spiritual blessings. With- 
out this, the whole plan of the Gospel would fall 
to the ground, and all our hopes of salvation be- 
come vain. 

Now if the Lord’s Supper is the constituted 
memorial of this all-important sacrifice, it is obvi- 
ous, that to observe the ordinance in a suitable 
manner, we must understand the object and the effi- 
cacy of this great sacrifice: that is, we must under- 
stand the leading doctrines of the Gospel in regard 
to it, so that we may perceive the import of the or- 
dinance, or, in the language of the context, may 
“discern the Lord’s body.” And we must not only 
understand these doctrines, but we must believe 
them: that is, we must believe, that all men are 
sinners,—that Christ died to redeem them,—and 
that his death is efficacious to this end. In other 
words, we must be real and intelligent believers in 
the Christian religion. 


1 Context, verses 24—26, Compare Luke 22: 19, 20. 
2 John 1: 29. 1 John 1:7. Acts 4: 12. 


7 


Thus much necessarily follows from the fact 
that this ordinance is the instituted memorial of 
the crucifixion. For no one can worthily observe 
any memorial whatever, unless he knows of what 
it is the memorial, or what it represents :—nor, un- 
less he believes the things it represents to be re- 
alities. The paschal supper, for example, was a 
memorial of the slaughter of the first born in Egypt. 
But how could any Jew observe that ordinance 
properly, without knowing to what it referred ?-— 
and without believing too, that God did in fact pass 
by the houses of the Israelites, and slay all the 
first born of the Egyptians ? 

Again: the Lord’s Supper is not only the me- 
morial of Christ’s death, but has likewise the na- 
ture of a feast upon a sacrifice. This may need 
some explanation.—In all countries where sacrifi- 
ces have been offered, whether Jewish or pagan, 
and particularly im the East, every sacrifice was 
followed by a feast, in which more or less of the 
sacrifice or consecrated thing was eaten by the 
offerer and his friends. And this religious act was 
regarded as holding intimate and friendly inter- 
course with the Deity himself. It was considered 
as a sitting and eating at the same table with him: 
and of course, agreeably to Oriental views, as a sa- 
cred pledge of inviolable union and _ friendship. 
For to this day, no oath is so binding upon an Arab 


— 


1 Exod. 12: 26, 27. 


eee 


3 


or western Asiatic, as the simple act of eating with 
another. 

Now the Eucharist is called “the Lord’s Sup- 
per ;” and the table at which it is eaten, “ the Lord’s 
Table.” And the bread and the wine, though not 
literally a sacrifice, are the symbols of one, or the 
representatives of that body and that blood which 
were made a sacrifice for our sins. Hence the sa- 
cred Supper represents a feast upon a sacrifice: 
and by eating of it, we profess to eat at the same 
table with the Lord himself; or, agreeably to Ori- 
ental customs, we professedly enter into a solemn 
covenant with Christ,—a covenant of mutual and 
inviolable friendship. 

That the Apostle viewed the Lord’s Supper in 
this light, is manifest from 1 Cor. 10: 18—21. where 
he says: “Are not they which eat of the sacrifices, 
partakers of the altar? What say I then? that 
the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in 
sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that 
the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacri- 
fice to devils and not to God: and I would not 
that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye can- 
not drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of dev- 
ils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, 
and of the table of devils.” Here, to sit at the 
Lord’s table, is considered as holding fellowship 
with Christ, as his acknowledged friends and wor- 
shippers; just as to sit at the table of demons, is to 
hold fellowship with them, as their friends and wor- 


9 


shippers. The Lord’s Supper, therefore, is truly a 
feast upon a sacrifice ;—as really so, as the idola- 
trous feasts among the pagans. And of course, to 
attend it, implies that we enter into a solemn cove- 
nant with Christ, to be his friends and followers.’ 

Again: in both the Jewish and the pagan feasts 
upon sacrifices, all the persons who united in parta- 
king of the consecrated food, not only participated 
in an act of homage to the Deity, but they profes- 
sed themselves friends to each other. To eat to- 
gether, among Asiatics, was always a token of 
friendship ; but especially, to eat together at a con- 
secrated table. Hence, from the nature of the act, 
as well as from the command of Christ requiring 
his disciples to love one another, (which command 
of his Lord, every communicant binds himself to 
obey,)—to sit together at the sacramental table, is 
a profession of mutual love and friendship among 
the communicants. This principle also, is recog- 
nized in the chapter before the text.* “ The cup 
of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion 
of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, 
is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For 
we, being many, are one bread, and one body ; 
for we are all partakers of that one bread.” 

From the view now taken of this ordinance, as 


1 See Dr. Cudworth’s ** Discourse concerning the True Notion of the 
Lord’s Supper ;” subjoined to his ‘* Intellectual System of the Universe,”” 
Vol. Il. London, 1743. 4to. 

2 Verses 16, 17. 


10 


a memorial of Christ crucified,—as a feast upon a 
sacrifice, and as the communion of Christians ; we 
may learn distinctly, what is implied in worthily 
partaking of it. It implies a good understanding of 
the design and the efficacy of Christ’s death,—a. 
cordial belief of the fundamental truths of the Gos- 
pel,—an actual reception of Christ, as our Saviour, 
—a state of reconciliation to God by him,—a pres- 
ent, renewed consecration of ourselves to Christ. 
as his followers,—and an acknowledgment of those 
who come with us to this ordinance, as our breth- 
ren in the Lord, whom we esteem and love as fel- 
low disciples. 

And if to come to the Lord’s table with such 
views and such feelings, is worthy communion; 
then to come without such views and feelings,— 
and much more, to come with views and feelings 
contrary to these,—is unworthy communion. 

You will not expect me to describe all the va- 
rious ways in which we may come unworthily to 
the Lord’s Table. In this case, as in many others, 
the right way is but one; the deviating paths are 
numerous. But it may be proper to observe, that 
if such views and such feelings, as have now been 
described, are essential in a worthy approach to the 
Lord’s Table; and if to come without these views 
and feelings, or with other and contrary ones, be 
eating and drinking unworthily ; then there may 
be various degrees of worthy communion, accord- 
ing to the perfection of our right views and feel- 


11 
ings, and likewise various degrees of unworthy 
‘communion, according to the measure in which our 
views and feelings are wrong. 

We have now considered, what answer to our 
first inquiry may be derived from the nature and 
design of this ordinance. The other method of 
answering the same inquiry, was to consider that 
abuse of the ordinance, by the Corinthians, which 
drew from an Apostle this solemn warning against 
unworthy communion. 

The conduct of the Corinthians at the Lord’s 
Table, is thus described in the context: “When 
ye come together in the church, I hear that there 
be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 
—when ye come together therefore into one place, 
this is not to eat the Lord’s Supper :’—that is, 
your coming together in this manner, is not wor- 
thy to be called eating the Lord’s Supper. “ For 
in eating, every one taketh before other, his own 
supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunk- 
en. What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink 
in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame 
them that have not? What shall I say unto you? 
shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” The 
Apostle then describes the original institution and 
the holy nature of this ordinance; and concludes 
by saying: “ Wherefore, my brethren, when ye 
come together to eat, tarry one for another. And 
if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye 
come not together unto condemnation.” 

1 Context, y. 18—22, 33, 34. 


12 


We learn from ecclesiastical history, that the 
early Christians celebrated this ordinance every 
Lord’s day : and that they made use of the bread 
and wine, which the people voluntarily brought to 
the house of worship on those occasions. It ap- 
pears also, that these contributions of food were 
intended not. only for the sacramental supper, but 
likewise for those feasts of charity or love, which 
were observed at the same time, as well as for the 
relief of the poor, and the sustenance of the offi- 
cers of the church. Now the Corinthians being 
divided into parties, and greatly wanting in Chris- 
tian affection, when they assembled, they did not 
make a distribution of their offerings, nor wait for 
all to assemble, and perhaps not for any consecra- 
tion of the elements; but separating into little cir- 
cles, or sitting here and there individually, they ate 
and drank of their own offerings in a very unbe- 
coming and unchristian manner. Some ate and 
drank abundantly, making an ostentatious display 
of their wealth and luxury; while others either 
shared nothing, or received only the refuse of the 
tables of the rich. Such was that abuse of this or- 
dinance, which occasioned the remarks in _ text 
on unworthy communion. 

It appears therefore, that the censurable cno- 
duct which Paul had particularly in view when he 
wrote the text, was this indecent, factious, irreverent 
behavior at the Lord’s table ;—a conduct, in which 
the reference of the ordinance to the crucifixion of 


13 


Christ was overlooked, or regarded with indiffer- 
ence; and in which there was a display of pride 
and luxurious living, and a total disregard to broth- 
erly love, if not likewise to every yt and 
promise of the Gospel. 

Such conduct at the Lord’s Table, may well 
shock our feelings; for we have never witnessed 
any thing like it. But let it not cause us to rise 
too much, in our own estimation. Those unhappy 
Corinthians were recent converts from paganism ; 
they were ignorant; and they lived in times of ig- 
norance, and of comparative barbarism; all around 
them, even the most decent and honourable, mani- 
fested precisely the same spirit in their most sol- 
emn acts of worship. Had they lived in our age, 
they could not easily have fallen into such indecen- 
cies. And if we are more decorous in our ap- 
proaches to the Lord’s Table, may not our cold 
formality, our want of spiritual views and feelings, 
render our attendance on the ordinance, as. offen- 
sive to the heart-searching God, as theirs was! 

Our second inquiry, on the text, is; in what 
sense, does an unworthy communicant “eat and 
drink damnation to himself 2” 

I have already remarked, that there may be 
various degrees of unworthy communion, according 
as our views and feelings at this ordinance are 
more or less unsuitable to the solemnity of the oc- 
casion. Yet, according to our translation, Paul as- 
serts universally, or without any exception, that. 


14 


whoever eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks 
damnation to himself. This language, to a modern 
English ear, conveys the terrific idea, that to eat 
and drink unworthily, in any degree whatever, is 
an unpardonable sin;—a sin which will mfallibly 
lead to the perdition of the soul. But such, most 
certainly, was not the Apostle’s meaning. He in- 
tended no more than, that such communion, instead 
of being acceptable to God and securing his bless- 
ing, is offensive to him, and will draw down re- 
bukes and chastisements on the head of the com- 
municant. This is evinced by the following argu- 
ments. . 

First ; Paul did not cease to regard the Corin- 
thians as true Christians and heirs of salvation, not- 
withstanding he charges them with the crime of 
unworthy communion. For he thus addresses them, 
in this very epistle: “I thank my God always on 
your behalf, for the grace of God which is given 
you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are 
enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all know- 
ledge ;—-so that ye come behind in no gift; wait- 
ing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; who 
shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may 
be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
And in a subsequent chapter, he says: “ All things 
are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, 
or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or 
things tocome ; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s ; 


15 


and Christ is God’s.”* The persons to whom Paul 
addressed such language, most certainly could not, 
in his estimation, have sealed their eternal damna- 
tion. And of course, when he charged them with 
profaning the Lord’s Supper, he did not suppose 
them guilty of an unpardonable sin. 

Secondly; the context affords proof, that to 
eat and drink damnation here means nothing more, 
than to draw down divine judgments rather than 
blessings. For in the 17th verse, it is described as 
a “coming together, not for the better, but for the 
worse.” And still more explicit are the verses 
which follow the text. Having said, that he who 
eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drink- 
eth damnation to himself, the Apostle proceeds to 
say, in the 30th verse: “ For this cause many are 
weak and sickly among you; and many sleep.” 
Here we have the Apostle’s own testimony, that 
the judgments which came on the Corinthians, for 
the sin of eating and drinking at the Lord’s Table 
unworthily, were altogether of a temporal nature; 
namely, sickness and mortality among the brethren. 
And these judgments, it is expressly declared, 
were intended for the good of the offenders ;—the 
object of them was, to prevent their being finally 
condemned with the ungodly: vy. 31, 32. “For if 
we would judge ourselves, we should not be judg- 
ed. But when we are judged, we are chastened of 


11 Cor. 1: 4—8. 3: 21—23. See also 1 Cor. 4: 14, 15. 6: 11. 10:13 
—15. 12: 27. and 2 Cor. 1: 7. 3: 2, 3. 7: 14—16. 13: 11—14. 


16 


the Lord, that we should.not be condemned with the 
world.” | whe 

Yet it must not be inferred from the case of 
the Corinthians, that such temporal judgments as 
sickness and premature death, are the only judg- 
ments which Heaven inflicts on profaners of. this 
ordinance. His own children, God can chastise in 
various ways, as he may see fit; and the irreligious 
who abuse this ordinance, will doubtless find this 
to be one among those sins for which the. ungodly 
will be condemned at the day of judgment. 

Thirdly ; neither the original Greek of the 
text, nor the English translation, as it would be un- 
derstood in the age in which it was written, con- 
veyed the idea of any thing more, than of eating 
and drinking judgment ; that is, of incurring §re- 
buke or punishment from God. 

That the Greek word, xo‘ua, expresses no more 
than this, every person acquainted with the Greek 
language, will admit: and others may perhaps be 
satisfied, when informed, that this very word is 
translated judgment, in the following passages: 
Matt. 7:2. “With what judgment ye judge, ye 
shall be judged.” John 9: 39. “And Jesus said, 
For judgment I am come into this world: that they 
which’see not, might see; and that they which see, 
might be made blind.” Gal. 5: 10. “ He that trou- 
bleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he 
be.” 1 Peter 4: 17. “For the time is come that 
judgment must begin at the house of God: and if 


17 


it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them 
that obey not the Gospel of God 2?” 

That our translators may have intended no 
more, by the word damnation, than simply condem- 
nation, or divine judgment in general; appears 
from their repeatedly using the word damnation in 
this very sense. Thus in reference to the crime 
of disobedience to civil rulers, they say: “ Whoso- 
ever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of 
God: and they that resist, shall receive to them- 
selves damnation.”* But surely, every instance of 
disobedience to civil rulers, is not followed infalli- 
bly by the loss of the soul. Here the word can 
mean, at farthest, no more than condemnation, or 
punishment at the hand of God. So in the first 
epistle to Timothy,’ those widows, who being made 
deaconesses, afterwards disqualified themselves 
for the office by marrying, are represented by our 
translation as “ having damnation, because they have 
cast off their first faith.” The passage means only, 
that they have condemnation, or fall under the dis- 
pleasure of God. Another passage in point, occurs 
in the epistle to the Romans, where in reference 
to the eating of meats consecrated to an idol, we 
read: “ He that doubteth, 7s damned if he eat, be- 
cause he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not 
of faith, zs sin.”* This passage carries along with. 


1 Rom. 13: 2. 21 Tim. 5: 12. 
3 Rom. 14: 23, compare v. 20. ‘It is evil to him that eateth with of= 
fence.” 


3 


18 


it, its own explanation, shewing that to be damned, 
here means only in general to commit sin. 

Thus it appears, we can have no assurance, 
that our translators, when they inserted the word 
damnation in the text, intended any thing more by 
it, than they do in other passages, where they cer- 
tainly meant only condemnation, or judgment. 

I will now close this investigation of the import 
of my text, by quoting the Paraphrase and Note of 
the pious Dr. Doddridge, which occur in his Fami- 
ly Expositor. His Paraphrase is: “ He that eateth 
and drinketh in an irreverent, profane and wnwor- 
thy manner, must certainly displease and provoke 
God; so that it may truly be said, that he eateth 
and drinketh judgment to himself: he takes the 
readiest way to bring down the judgments of God 
upon him.” The marginal Note is this: “I think 
it is the most unhappy mistake in all our version of 
the Bible, that the word xgéue, is here rendered 
damnation. It has raised a dread in tender minds 
which has greatly obstructed the comfort and edi- 
fication they might have received from this ordi- 
nance. The apostle afterwards says, we are judg- 
ed, (that is, as he afterwards explains it, we are cor- 
rected,) that we may not be condemned ; which 
plainly shows, the judgments spoken of might be 
fatherly chastisements. This sin, as sin, does in- 
deed expose us to condemnation, should God be 
extreme to mark it, as an irreverent behaviour un- 
der any other ordinance does ; but it is superstition 


19 


to set this at so vast a distance from all the rest, 
as many do.” * 

After this long discussion of the principal ques- 
tions suggested by the text, my hearers will, I 
hope, acquiesce in the correctness of the following 
remarks. 

1. This text ought not to deter any real Chris- 
tian, who understands the import of the ordinance, 
and who wishes to show his grateful love to the 
Saviour, from coming to the Lord’s Table. It does 
not hold up the terrific idea, that unworthy com- 
munion is an unpardonable sina. The Lord’s table 
is not like the tangible mount, that burned with 
fire, whose top was enveloped in blackness and 
tempest, and from which issued thunders and voi- 
ces so terrible that even good men exceedingly 
feared and quaked. This holy ordinance was not 
designed to be a fiery ordeal, through which none 
but the sinless can safely pass. It was intended 
for the edification, and not for the destruction of 
the frail followers of Christ. The person who is 
duly prepared for communion with his God and 
Saviour in any religious ordinance, is prepared 
not only for a safe, but for a profitable attendance 
on this. And mistakes and imperfections in re- 
gard to this ordinance, are no more hazardous to 
the soul, than mistakes and imperfections in regard 
to Baptism. It is a table which Christ has spread 


1 Similar views of the import of the text, are given by Scott, Macknight, 
Clark, Whitby, and by the great body of interpreters. 


20 


for all his humble followers; and to which the 
meanest of them is made welcome. The consecra- 
ted bread and wine are nutritious aliment for eve- 
ry soul, that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. 

Let no one therefore, who loves and honours 
Christ, be afraid to approach his table. The de- 
nunciation in the text was never intended to fright- 
en any humble Christian from the sacred feast, and 
thus deprive him of the benefits of this precious or- 
dinance.—Come, then, all ye that love the Saviour ; 
come ye to this soul-refreshing feast. The Lord 
himself invites you—nay commands you. If you 
love the great Redeemer,—if you are truly grateful 
for his mediation, and if you wish to make mani- 
fest before the world, your faith in christianity, and 
your adoring views of Christ your Saviour, he bids 
you welcome—always welcome to his table. 

2. This text, though it does not teach, that un- 
worthy communion will consign a person to imevi- 
table perdition, yet may well deter all the grossly 
ignorant, the thoughtless, the unbelieving, and the 
whole body of the irreligious, from this holy ordi- 
nance. For, such persons will doubtless, eat and 
drink judgment to themselves, not discerning the 
Lord’s body. The text clearly shews, that this or- 
dinance was designed exclusively for Christians ; 
—for those who understand, believe, and take pro- 
per interest in the great truths of the Gospel. It 
was not instituted, like the ministry of the word, to 
be the means of converting the heathen, and of 


21 


awakening and convincing thoughtless sinners in 
Christian. lands; but for the edification of the 
church ;—of those already enlightened and born 
again. 

lf therefore any of you, my dear hearers, are 
not fully convinced, that you are sinners before 
God, that you are in danger of everlasting perdi- 
tion, and that Jesus Christ is your only Saviour ;— 
or if you are still halting whether to accept his — 
mediation, and to embrace and follow him as your 
Saviour; most evident it is, that you are such per- 
sons as have no right to sit down with the disciples 
of Christ at his table. This ordinance was not 
designed for persons of your character: and you 
cannot approach it with safety. You cannot ex- 
pect to come to it, in your present state, without 
increasing your guilt—without incurring divine 
displeasure—How unhappy is your condition! 
You can have no friendly intercourse with Christ. 
You cannot come near his table. This delightful 
ordinance, which nourishes the faith and piety of 
others, offers no spiritual nourishment to you. 
While it furthers the salvation of others, it would 
but obstruct and hinder yours! 

3. My Christian brethren, this text warns us, 
that it is not sufficient merely to be Christians, 
in order to come acceptably to this ordinance. We 
may be real Christians,—heirs of salvation; and 
yet eat and drink judgment to ourselves. The 
Corinthians did so. And their example, and the 


22 


rebukes it received, should be a warning to us. To 
come to this ordinance with advantage, we too 
must “examine” ourselves; and we must come 
prepared to contemplate, to admire, and to em- 
brace anew the bleeding Saviour. All our Chris- 
tian feelings must be in lively exercise. For, this 
ordinance is a memorial of Christ, a feast upon a 
sacrifice, a spiritual communion of Christians with 
their Lord and with one another. It does not op- 
erate mechanically on the soul. There is no mys- 
terious, physical efficacy in the mere act of eating 
this sacred bread. The whole efficacy of the or- 
dinance consists in the views it excites, and the 
feelings it awakens. If we come to it m sucha 
frame of mind, as to have our Christian views and 
feelings excited, and purified, and invigorated ; we 
shall be benefitted. If not,—the ordinance will do 
us no good. Nay, it will dous harm. It will in- 
crease our religious insensibility ; it will grieve the 
Holy Spirit, by which we are sanctified; and it 
may induce a holy God to visit us with rebukes 
and chastisement. 

Therefore, my Christian friends,—* Let a man 
examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, 
and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and 
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment 
to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” 


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oe POOR NE Sabo mm pire, te se ee 
fs Dee -pbete peak Ware Ae pee yi Rae yy es 
avewits Oa E «Abe op Hierenabaieagia; 


SERMON v3 


DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 


By E. CORNELIUS, 


PASTOR OF THE TABERNACLE CHURCH, SALEM, | 


Published by request of the Church. 


ANDOVER: 
PRINTED BY FLAGG AND GOULD, 
Pe aan aos = seals IR 025 


met 


Iinsa Ce ee te 
a Mule sat 


Sp 0h SON Te 


ye 


SERMON. 


Ephesians 1. 18. 


FOR THROUGH HIM WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO 
THE FATHER. 


Ts examining the truths of revelation, it is impor- 
tant that our inquiries be conducted with candour 
and humility. The subjects treated of are so vast, 
and in many instances so much above the compre- 
hension of the human mind, that our knowledge of 
them can be neither very extensive nor correct, un- 
less we dismiss our prejudices, and rely simply on 
divine testimony. This is especially true when we 
undertake to investigate the deep things of God 
himself. “Canst thou by searching find out God? 
Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ? 
It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper 
than hell; what canst thou know?” If ever men 
need supernatural aid it is when they enter upon 
this unmeasurable field of inquiry. It should excite 
our gratitude, that God has been pleased to grant us 
such aid, in the Scriptures of revealed truth. He 


oe mara Sash sf 


4 


has there told us who he is, and what he requires. 
He has even disclosed important facts concerning the 
mode of his existence, and pointed out the manner 
in which he is to be approached and worshipped. 
Our duty is, to receive his instructions, not with the 
feelings of judges, but with the docility of learners. 
If we are told that God is a being of infinite knowl- 
edge, holiness, and justice, we must give full credit 
to the declaration, although we can neither compre- 
hend the extent of such attributes, nor reconcile 
them with every event which occurs in his Provi- 
dence. And so, if the Scriptures clearly inform us 
what honours are due to the only true God, and then 
direct us to render these honours to the Father, to 
the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, we must obey the 
direction with scrupulous exactness, whatever con- 
clusions it may lead us to make concerning the man- 
ner in which God exists. 

The verse which has been read naturally directs 
our attention to this important subject. The allu- 
sion which it makes to the Son, and to the Spirit, 
as well as to the Father, and the offices which it as- 
signs to each in the work of salvation, will lead us to 
inquire what the Scriptures teach concerning the 
doctrine of the Trinity, and will give to the discus- 
sion a practical bearing. Eyery serious and consci- 
entious person must desire to know what honours 
are due to the Supreme Being, and how they should 
be rendered. The doctrine of the Trinity is insep- 


5 


arably connected with these inquiries. No subject, 
therefore, can be more immediately or deeply prac- 
tical. 

I am aware that the text, independently of its 
connexion with other passages of Scripture, does 
not fully establish the doctrine in question ; but tak- 


ing into consideration all which the sacred writings 


contain on the subject, it may properly be regarded 
as referring to that doctrine, and, consequently, as 
affording a suitable occasion for discussing it. 

To render the subject more perspicuous my re- 
marks will be made with reference to three particu- 
lars, viz. 

I. What the doctrine of the Trinity is. 

II. The proof of it. 

III. The practical importance of it. 

If the humble inquirer after truth can arrive at 
satisfactory conclusions on these points, he will pos- 
sess what is most necessary to his faith and practice ; 
and having this, he may safely leave other questions 
to be settled in a world of clearer light and more ex- 
tensive knowledge. 

I. Iam to show what the doctrine of the Trinity 
is. In doing this, I remark, it is not that there are 
three supreme, independent, Gods. The language 
of the Bible, on this point, is such as no one can mis- 
take. “ Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One 
Lord.” After such a declaration, to say that there 
are, or can be, three independent Gods, would be to 


. Sa 


aE EE 


6 : 


contradict the highest testimony in the universe. 
Were this the doctrine of the Trinity, or were it a 
fair and manifest conclusion from it, no evidence 
could prove it to be true. It would carry its own 
refutation on the face of it. Those who receive the 
doctrine have no such view of it. They adopt no 
opinion which in their apprehension infringes, in the 
least, that grand article of the Divine Unity, which 
they hold to be the basis of all true religion. 

Neither is it the doctrine of the Trinity, as com- 
monly deduced from the Scriptures, that God mere- 
ly acts in three essentially different ways, or in three 
prominent and peculiar relations—that when he man- 
ifests himself in one of these, he takes the title of 
Father; when he appears in a second, he calls him- 
self Son; and when he is exhibited in a third, he 
styles himself Holy Spirit; just as when a human 
being sustains three offices, he may take different 
titles, and designate himself by one or other of them, 
according to the circumstances in which he acts. 
As the former statement contains more than is im- 
plied in the doctrine of the Trinity, so this contains 
less. The distinction which it makes between the 
Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is rather nominal 
than real, and falls far short of those personal de- 
scriptions which the Scriptures give of them. 

I observe therefore, that the doctrine teaches the 
ract, That the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 
are the one, only living, and true God; and that 


7 


there is in the Divine Nature, or Godhead, a found- 
ation for such a distinction, as authorizes the sepa- 
rate application of the personal pronouns, I, thou, and 
he, to each of these names ; and requires divine at- 
tributes and honours to be distinctly ascribed to the 
Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as well as to the Father. 

This the doctrine teaches simply as a fact; to 
be received, or rejected, according to the nature 
and degree of the evidence which is brought in 
support of it. The reality of such a distinction 
in the Godhead is, however, as independent of any 
explanation which may be given of it, as the reality 
of God’s existence is independent of any explanation, 
how he exists. The credibility of a fact does not 
necessarily depend upon the possibility of explaining 
it in a satisfactory manner, but on evidence. What 
philosopher of modern times doubts, that certain 
bodies possess the properties which are called mag- 
netism and electricity; or that all bodies possess 
what is called gravitation? Yet what philosopher 
has been able to do more than to describe these at- 
tributes of matter, as facts? The mind of Newton 
did not attempt any thing beyond this. 

The Scriptures reveal many things as facts, 
which they do not undertake to explain. They tell 
us that God is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, and 
omnipotent ; but what can we comprehend of things 
infinite in degree or duration? They teach us also 
that God is a Spirit; that he made all things from 


8 


nothing; that he will raise the dead; and bring eve- 
ry thought, feeling, and action into judgment—but 
what do we know of these things, except that- they 
are realities? Yet they are as firmly believed and 
confided in, by all who receive the testimony of the 
Bible, as though they admitted a solution of every 
difficulty. So also may the doctrine of the Trinity 
be fully credited, though the fact which it asserts 
should remain forever unexplained. All that can 
reasonably be demanded is, that the terms in which 
it is expressed contain nothing in itself absurd, 
and that it have the testimony of the word of God 
for its support. That such is the case in regard to 
the statement which has been made, it will be my 
object to show. 

II. I proceed therefore to exhibit the proof of 
the doctrine. I will first endeavour to show that the 
statement alleges nothing in ztself absurd; and then 
that it is supported by the testimony of Scripture. 

The absurdity usually alleged against the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, and that to which all objections 
proceeding on the ground that it is essentially m- 
credible may. be reduced, is, that it teaches that 
three Gods are one God; which is saying that three 
and one are, numerically, the same. 

Now if the language contained in the proposition 
be justly chargeable with such a contradiction, it 
must be, either, because it asserts that the Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit, are three Gods ; or, because it 


£ 


g 


implies this. The first will not be pretended, since 
so far as mere declaration goes, it asserts the con- 
trary. it declares that the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit are the Ove only living and true God.— 
Neither does the statement amply that there are 
more Gods than one. Before such an allegation can 
be proved, it must be shown, either, that the pro- 
position represents God as three, in the same sense 
in which he is represented as one; or that the dis- 
tinction which it supposes in the Divine Nature is 
impossible. The former cannot be shown, because 
the statement represents God as three, in reference 
only to the distinction, be it what it may, which ex- 
ists between the Father, Son, and Spirit; and as 
one, in reference to their union in the same God- 
head; that is, it represents him as three, in one 
sense; and as one, in another sense. To assume 
the latter part of the alternative, relating to the im- 
possibility of such a distinction as the statement as- 
serts, would be taking for granted the main point in 
dispute, and is what no one can affirm, who does 
not presume to know all those distinctions of which 
the Divine Nature is capable. Besides, in order to 
prove that such a distinction is irreconcilable with 
the Divine Unity, the objector must show not only 
in what that distinction consists, but in what Divine 
Unity consists, and then that there is a contradiction 
between the two. But this no human intellect has 
done, or can do. 


10 


Viewed, therefore, in whatever light it may 
be, the doctrine, as it has been stated, contains 
nothing in itself contradictory or absurd. It sim- 
ply asserts a fact concerning the mode of the Di- 
vine existence, which for any thing that appears 
in the declaration itself, may be true ; and leaves the 
reality of it to be shown, like that of thousands of 
other facts, by testimony. ‘The way is now prepar- 
ed to exhibit the evidence which the Scriptures af- 
ford of the truth of the doctrine. This I shall en- 
deavor to present in the following propositions. 

1. The Scriptures mention certain characteris- 
tics by which God is known, and distinguished from 
all other beings; and which he does not permit to 
be applied to any other than himself. 

If Jehovah is different from all other beings, it is 
plain that he must possess some things which are 
peculiar to himself; and which being known, neces- 
sarily distinguish him from all others. If we exam- 
ine the Scriptures, we shall find that the sacred wri- 
ters have exhibited God with all this prominence 
and peculiarity ; designating him by titles, ascribing 
to him attributes and actions, and rendering him 
honours, which belong to no other being. A few 
quotations will show this in the clearest manner. 

No one can doubt that the epithets used in the 
following passages belong only to the Supreme God. 
“ That all men may know, that thou, whose name 
alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the 


1] 


earth.—This is eternal life, to know thee, the only 


true God.—The Great, the Mighty God, the Lord _ 


of Hosts is his name.—Thus saith the Lord, the 
King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, 
Tam the first, and I am the last.” 

Equally manifest is it, that the attributes which 
are mentioned, or implied, in the following citations, 
are intended to be understood as belonging to the 
only true God. “For thou, even THou onty knowest 
the hearts of all the children of men.—I the Lord 
search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to ey- 
ery man according to his ways.—God is greater than 
our heart and knoweth all things—Can any one hide 
himself in secret places that I shall not see him, saith 
the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the 
Lord ?—The Lord appeared to Abram and said to 
him, I am the almighty God—The eternal God is 
thy refuge.—I am the Lord, I change not.”” In these 
passages omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, 
eternity, and immutability, are described as distin- 
guishing attributes of Jehovah. 

Creation is a work, which is uniformly represent- 
ed in Scripture as belonging to God. “In the be- 
ginning God created the heavens and the earth.— 
Thou, even thou, art Lord alone: thou hast made 
heayen, the heaven of heavens, with dll their host, 


1 Ps. 63:18. John 17:3. Jer. 32: 18,19. Is. 44:6. 


® 1Kings 8:39. Jer. 17:10, 33: 23,24. 1John3:20. Gen. 17:1. 


Deut. 30: 27. Mal. 3:6. ° 


ep tere eran 


12 


the earth and all things that are therem, the seas 
and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all. 
-—He that built all things is God.” It is declared al- 
so, that the work of creation was executed by God 
alone, without the intervention of any helper or as- 
sociate. “Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer..... "i 
am the Lord that maketh all things ; that stretcheth 
forth the heavens atone; that spreadeth abroad the 
earth sy mysetr.” Jt is one method of describing 
false gods, to designate them as “gods which have 
not made the heavens and the earth.” Of course 
he who did create them is the true God. 

Other portions of Scripture mention it as the spe- 
cial prerogative of God to forgive sin, and to judge 
the world at the last day. He is exhibited also as, 
the only being worthy of supreme love and confi- \ 
dence, and as the only lawful object of religious wor- 
ship. The following citations may serve as exam- 
ples. “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans- 
gressions.—Giod shall bring every work into judg- 
ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good 
or whether it be evil—So then every one of us 
shall give account of himself to God.—Cursed be 
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his 
arm..... blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, 
and whose hope the Lord is.—Fear God and give 
glory to him, and worship him that made heaven and 


1Gen.1:1. Neh.9:6. Heb, 3:4. Is. 44:24. Jer. 10: 11. 


13 


earth and the fountains of waters—T ou sHatr wor- 
SHIP NO OTHER Gop.” 

Such is the language by which the true God is 
known and distinguished. Every one perceives that 
the being who can justly claim these titles, attributes, 
works, and worship, is, and must be, the supreme 
God, the Jehovah of the Scriptures. They are also 
what God himself assumes as his peculiar preroga- 
tives, and forbids to be applied to any other being. 
In such explicit and solemn terms as these does he 
assert the rights of the Supreme Divinity. “I, even 
Tam he; and there is no God with me.—I am God, 
and there is none like me—I am the Lord, that is 
my name; and my glory will I not give unto another. 
—Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.”? But 
if it is true that Jehovah will not give, nor delegate 
the attributes and honours which belong to him and 
constitute his glory, to another; if there is no Ged 
with him, and none lke him, in the universe, it fol- 
lows, that the being who possesses these attributes 
and may claim these honours, is the only true God. 
Thus it appears that the Scriptures mention certain 
characteristics by which God is known and distin- 
guished from all other beings; and which he does 
not permit to be applied to any other than himself. 
This is the first proposition. 


1 1s,43:25. Ecc. 12:14. Rom. 14:12. Jer. 17:5,7. Rev. 14: 7. 
Ex, 34:14, 


2 Deut. 32: 39. Is, 46:9, 42:8. Ex. 20: 3. 


14 


2. These same characteristics, which belong only 
to God, and are forbidden by him to be applied to 
any other, are ascribed in Scripture, by God himself, 
to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. 

That this is true in regard to the Father, no one 
can have any doubt. I shall endeavour to show that 
it is true also of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The 
limits of a discourse permit the introduction of but 
few passages on each of these branches of the sub- 
ject. I shall select such as are most obvious in their 
import, and which it is believed will bear the strict- 
est examination. 

Several of the distinguishing names and titles 
of God, are applied to Christ in the following passa- 
ges, in the same unqualified manner in which we 
have before seen that they are applied to Jehovah. 
“ Whose are the Fathers; and of whom, as concern- 
ing the flesh, Christ came, who is over all God bless- 
ed forever—And we are in him that is true, even in 
his son Jesus Christ ; this (or he’) is the true God 
and eternal life.” The writer of the Apocalypse 
represents Christ as saying “I am Alpha and Ome- 
ga, the first and the last.’ The prophet Isaiah says 
“T saw also Jehovah sitting upon a throne high and 

1 Dr. Doudridge, one of the most candid and judicious of crities, and who 
translates the Greek pronoun in this manner, says of this passage ; “‘ Itis an 
argument of the Deity of Christ, which almost all those who have wrote in 
its defence have urged, and which { think none who have opposed it, have 


so much as appeared to answer.» Expositorinloc. See also Stuart’s Let- 
ters to Channing, 3d Ed. p. 83. 


15 


lifted up, and his train filled the temple ;” yet the 
evangelist John, speaking of Christ, refers to this 
vision and observes; “These things said Hsaias,- 
when he saw his (Christ’s) glory, and spake of him.” 
Christ is therefore Jehovah, whom the prophet saw." 

In the passages which follow, the distinguishing 
attributes of God are ascribed to Christ in the same 
unqualified manner. “ In the beginning (from eter- 
nity) was the Word.—I am alpha and omega, the be- 
ginning and the end—And, thou, Lord, (addressed 
to Christ) in the beginning, hast laid the foundation 
of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy 
hands: they shall perish, but thou remainest; and 
they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as 
a vesture shalt thou fold them and they shall be 
changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall 
not fail— All the churches shall know that I am ne 
which searcheth the reins and the hearts.—As the Fa- 
ther knoweth me, even so know I the Father.”—Of 
Christ also it is said that “he shall change our vile 
body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
body, according to the working whereby he is able 
even to subdue all things to himself.” It was Jesus 
who assured his disciples that “ where two or three 
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the 
midst of them ;” and to his ministers he has said, 
“Lo I am with you alway, even to the end of the 


1 Rom, 11:5. 1 John 5; 20, Rev. 1: 11. Is. 6: 1 compared with John 12: 41. 


16 


world.” It ean scarcely be necessary to remark, 
that the attributes which are here ascribed to Christ 
are the same, and for the most part are expressed 
in the same language, with those which we have be- 
fore seen to be descriptive of the only true Jehovah. 

Creation, which is so often claimed in the Serip- 
tures as the work of God alone, is ascribed to Christ 
in the most direct and positive terms, as the follow- 
ing quotations will show. “ In the beginning was the 
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God. All things were made by him; and with- 
out him was not any thing made which was made.— 
The world was made by him.” In the following 
passages he is declared to be the Preserver, and 
Upholder, as well as the Creator, of the universe. 
“For by him (i.e. Christ) were all things created 
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, whether 
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
powers, all things were created sy him and ror him, 
and he is serore all things, and by him all things 
consist—Who being the brightness of his glory and 
the express image of his person, and upholding all 
things by the word of his power, when he had by 
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand 
of the Majesty on high.”? What stronger terms is 
it possible to use, than are here employed in descri- 


1 John 1:1. Rev. 22: 13. Heb. 1: 10—12. Rev. 2: 23. John 10: 15. 
Phil, 3: 21, Matt. 18: 20. 28: 20. 


2 John 1: 1,2, 10. Col. 1: 16,17. Heb. 1:3. 


17 


bing the creative and. preserving power of Christ ? 
Who would hesitate a moment to understand them 
of the Supreme Jehovah, if they were unconnected 
with the name of Christ? What then should hin- 
der them from being so understood now that they 
are inseparably joined to his name? Certainly, if 
Christ is before all things, if all things im the uni- 
verse were created by him, and are upheld by him, 
there must be a sense in which he is not himself a 
creature ; and if he is not created, who else can he 
be but the uncreated God? How irreconcilable are 
such passages as these with every theory which re- 
duces the Lord Jesus Christ to the condition of a 
dependent being! Will those, who contend that he 
had no existence till he appeared on earth, show us 
how he could create the world four thousand years 
before he was born; or, with what propriety it 
could be said that “without him was not any thing 
made which was made,” when, as they at the same 
time tell us, nothing was made by him ? 

To forgive sin is a divine prerogative which was 
claimed and exercised by Jesus Christ. To the sick 
of the palsy he said, “ Son, be of good cheer, thy sins 
are forgiven thee; and when the Jews accused him 
of blasphemy for pretending to such divine author- 
ity, he replied by asserting his power to forgive sin. 

To Christ also it belongs to raise the dead, and 


1 Matth. 9: 2—6. 
3 


18 


judge the world at the last day. “The hour is com- 
ing in the which all that are in the graves shall hear 
his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done 
good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have 
done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.—For 
we must all appear before the judgment seat of 
Christ, that every one may receive the things done 
in the body, according to that he hath done, whether 
it be good or whether it be bad.” 

There are, in short, no acts of confidence and 
homage greater than those which the Scriptures fre- 
quently represent as being rendered to Christ. “I 
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth 
me.—Whosoever believeth (i. e. trusteth) in him 
shall not be ashamed.—Then Peter said, silver and 
gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee : 
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and 
walk.—And they stoned Stephen invoking (or pray- 
ing,”) and saying Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Paul 
addresses his first epistle to the Corinthians “to 
them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be 
saints, with all that in every place call upon the name 
of Jesus Christ our Lord ;” which implies that it was 
the practice of all who were Christians to pray to 
Christ? This same apostle declares that he thrice 


Pk 1 John 5: 28, 29. 2 Cor. 5: 10. 
“2 Gr. éntxahoupevor, literally calling upon. 
3 See Schleusner’s Lexicon, article énexoAew § 5. So common was it 
among the early Christians to pay religious homage to Christ, that it was 
usual to distinguish them by this circumstance. Pliny, Governor of Bithyn- 


19 


besought the Lord, by whom he evidently means 
Christ, that the thorn in the flesh might be taken 
away; and received for answer, “ my grace is suffi- 
cient for thee.” It may be added, that “to call up- 
on the name of the Lord,” is a phrase of frequent 
occurrence in the Old Testament, denoting prayer 
or religious invocation. Thus Abraham “builded 
an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of 
the Lord.’ Ina still more explicit manner is Christ 
acknowledged to be the object of religious worship 
in the following passages. “That at the name of 
Jesus every knee should bow, or THInGs IN HEAVEN, and 
things in earth, and things under the earth, and that 
every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father.—And I beheld, and I heard 
the voice of many angels round about the throne, and 
the beasts,’ and the elders, and the number of them 
was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands 
of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is 
THE LAMB THAT was SLAIN, to receive power, and rich- 
es, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, 
ia, in a letter to the Emperor Trajan, says he had made inquiries concemn- 
ing the Christians, and learned, ‘‘ that they were accustomed on a stated 
day to meet before daylight and to sing with one another a hymn to Christ 
as God.” (Lib. X. Ep. 97.) Those who have not opportunity, to con- 


sult the original, may find a translation of the entire letter in Milner’s 
Church History, vol. I. pp. 147—150. 


1 Phil. 4:13. Rom. 10:11. Acts3:6. 7:59. 1Cor.1:2. 2Cor, 
128.9. 


2 Gen, 12: 8. 


’ 
3 Gr. Cav, often rendered “ living ones,” or * living creatures.” See 
Doddridge’s Note on Rev. 4: 6. 


20 


and blessing. And every creature which is in heay- 
en, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such 
as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 1 
saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, 
be unto wim who sitteth upon the throne, anp unto 
the Lams forever and ever.”! What higher honours 
can creatures render to the supreme Jehovah, than 
are here paid by the intelligent universe to Christ ? 
If to these honours we add the divine names, titles, 
attributes, and works which we have seen are so 
abundantly given him in the Scriptures, and which 
the Scriptures themselves represent as descriptive of 
the only true Ged, the truth of the proposition which 
we are considering, so far as it relates to the Son, 
must be not only convincing, but overwhelming. 

I proceed now to show, 

That the characteristics of true and proper God- 
head are ascribed, also, in the Scriptures, to the Ho- 
ly Spirit. No one, let his opinion of the doctrme of 
the Trinity be what it may, can well doubt that the 
phrase Holy Spirit, or as our translators usually have 
it, Holy Ghost, is frequently used in Scripture in such 
a manner as to denote something truly divine. Who, 
for example, can read such declarations as the follow- 
ing, and not perceive that the sacred writers connect- 
ed with the phrase the idea of supreme divinity ? 
“ Peter said unto Ananias, why has Satan filled 
thine heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost ?..... Thou 


1 Phil. 2:10, 11. Rev. 5: 11—13, 


21 


hast not lied unto men, but unto God—Wherefore 
the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his 
voice, harden not your heart,” &c.' In the passage 
referred to in the 95th Psalm, it is Jehovah who says 
“ To day, if ye will hear,’ &c. ©The Scriptures are 
declared in one place to be given by inspiration of 
God ; and in another it is said, that “holy men of 
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 
All must admit that in cases like these the term de- 
notes something in the proper sense divine. The 
only question is whether the Scriptures mean by it 
any thing distinct from the Father, or so distinct as 
to justify the separate application of the personal 
pronouns, and the ascription of divine actions and 
honours ; which is what the doctrine of the Trinity 
asserts. On this point it would seem as if the Bi- 
ble was as definite as it could be. 

In the first place, there are many passages in 
which the Holy Spirit is spoken of in a personal 
manner. “Now when they had gone throughout 
Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbid- 
den of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 
after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go 
into Bithynia; but the Spirit suffered them not.— 
The Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and 
Saul for the work whereunto [ have called them.— 
The Spirit said unto Peter, Behold three men seek 
thee. Arise therefore and get thee down, and go 


1 Acts 5: 3,4, Heb.3: 7. 


22 


with them doubting nothing, for J have sent them— 
Howbeit when ue, the Spirit of truth is come, HE 
will guide you into all truth.” 

In the nezt place, there are passages in which 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are distinguished 
from one another in the same sentence, and the per- 
sonal pronouns applied to them severally. Such is 
the fact in the following declarations of our Saviour 
to his disciples.” J will pray the rarHer and ue shall 
give you another comrorrer that He may abide with 
you forever; even the spirit of truth, wom the 
world cannot receive because it seeth nim not, 
neither knoweth nm; for ne dwelleth with you, and 
shall be in you.—The comrorter, which is the Hoty 
GHosT, wHom the FaTHeR will send in my name, HE 
shall teach you all things.” 

What can be more obvious than the import of 
such language? Here are no metaphorical allu- 
sions, no poetic images, to affect the meaning. All 
is simple, unimpassioned prose. If then there is 
any distinction between the Father, and the Son, 
there is no less distinction between them both, and 
the Holy Spirit. The second proposition is there- 
fore proved to be true. 

From the fact thus established, that divine pre- 
rogatives are ascribed in Scripture to the Father, 
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, it might natural- 


1 Acts 16: 6, 7. 13: 2. 10: 19, 20. John 16: 13. See also Acts 15; 28 &c. 
2 John 14: 16, 17, 26. 


23 


ly be expected that the sacred writers would some- 
times exhibit them conjointly, and sometimes inter- 
changeably ; as performing separate acts, and as 
performing the same acts. Such is the fact. 

Each of these Divine Names is introduced in a 
peculiar connexion in the following passages. “Go 
ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost.—Elect according to the foreknowledge of 
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, 
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus 
Christ—Praying in the Holy Ghost, keep your- 
selves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of 
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life—The grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you 
all—F or through Him, i. e. Christ, we both have 
access by one Spirit unto the Father.” 

The words God, and Christ, are used interchange- 
ably in many instances like the following. “For we 
shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ ; 
for it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every 
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall con- 
fess to God. So then every one of us shall give 
account of himself to God.” ‘The resurrection of 
Christ is often ascribed to the power of God, and 
yet Christ declared that he would raise his own 


1 Matth. 28: 19. 1 Pet. 1:2. Jude 20—21. 2 Cor. 13: 14. Eph. 2:18. 


24 


body. “Therefore doth my Father love me, be- 
cause I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down or my- 
seLF; I have power to lay it down, and I have pow- 
er to take it again. This commandment (or com- 
mission) have I received of my Father.” The same 
union of operation with the Father, is strongly im- 
plied in those passages which speak of the resurrec- 
tion of mankind; which is sometimes ascribed to 
God and sometimes to Christ.! 

The Father and the Son are exhibited both con- 
jointly, and interchangeably as the object of prayer, 
and the source of spiritual blessings im such instan- 
ces as these. “ Now God himself and our Father, 
and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. 
—Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even 
our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given 
us everlasting consolation and good hope through 
grace, comfort your hearts and stablish you in every 
good word and work.’” In other instances they are 
joined in the same act of worship. “Blessing and 
honour, and glory and power, be unto um that sit- 
teth upon the throne, and unto the tame forever.— 
Salvation to our Gop who sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the tams.”? Whoever considers the import 
of such passages will surely not be surprised that 


1 Rom. 14: 10—12. 2Cor. 1: 1. Compare John 10: 17, 18. 5: 28, 29. 
Compare Acts 26: 8. 


21 Thess. 3: 11,12. 2 Thess. 2: 16, 17. 3 Rev. 5: 13, 7:10. 


25 


our Saviour himself should declare, that whatso- 
ever things the Father doeth “the same doeth the 
Son likewise ;” and on this ground should demand 
“that all men might honour the Son, even as they 
honour the Father.”* 

On the supposition that the doctrine of the Trin- 
ity is true, these passages admit of an easy interpre- 
tation. But if that be rejected, it is difficult to con- 
ceive what explanation can be given of them which 
is consistent with the exclusive rights of the God- 
head. It would shock every mind to hear other 
names associated, as these are throughout the Scrip- 
tures, with the ever blessed Jehovah, who is infin- 
itely jealous of his own honour, and has threatened 
with severe punishment all those who give his glory 
to another. 

Besides, if the declarations which ascribe the at- 
tributes and honours of Godhead to the Son and the 
Holy Spirit, are not to be understood literally but 
figuratively, as has sometimes been said, how is it to 
be accounted for, that the sacred writers have no 
where used the same figurative style when speaking 
of those who are confessedly inferior to God? Why 
is it used only in reference to the Son and the Holy 
Spirit? The examples in which the word god is 
applied to idols, and in two or three instances to 
men, are so different both in the form of expression, 


1 John 5: 19, 23. 
4 


een 


26 


and in their connexion, that they camot be consid- 
ered as at all analogous. Let the style which the 
Scriptures use in their descriptions of the Son and 
of the Holy Spirit, be taken as a whole, and it is haz- 
arding nothing to say, that it is without a parallel in 
the Bible. Whence this great, this wonderful sin- 
gularity 2? Hither the sacred writers are chargeable 
with an anomaly which cannot be reconciled with 
any just principles of interpretation, and the ten- 
dency of which is to unsettle the mind concerning 
their meaning in other places; or, the language in 
which they ascribe divine attributes and honours to 
the Son and to the Spirit, as well as to the Father, 
must be received according to its plain import, and 
the doctrine as it has been stated in this discourse 
be allowed to be sustained. 

I have now endeavoured to establish two propo- 
sitions. 

First. The Scriptures mention certain character- 
istics by which God is known and distinguished from 
all other beings ; and which he does not permit to be 
applied to any other than himself. | 

Szconp. These same characteristics which belong 
only to God, and are forbidden by him to be applied 
to any other, are ascribed in Scripture, by God him- 
self, to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. 

The following inference is unavoidable. 

Turp. That the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
are the one only living and true God ; and that there 


27 


is in the Divine Nature, or Godhead, a foundation 
Sor such a distinction as authorizes the separate ap- 
plication of the personal pronouns, I, thou, he, to 
each of these names, and requires divine attributes 
and honours to be distinctly ascribed to the Son, and 
to the Holy Spirit, as well as to the Father. 

This is the doctrine of the Trinity which it was 
proposed to establish. If the premises are true, the 
conclusion can never be shaken. Before this can be 
done, it must be shown either, that the testimony of 
Scripture is unworthy of confidence ; in other words, 
that the Bible is not the word of God; or, that in- 
terpreted according to the acknowledged principles 
of language it does not ascribe divine attributes and 
honours to the Son and to the Spirit, as well as to the 
Father. The first will not be attempted till the 
days of avowed infidelity shall have returned; and 
the last cannot be done, it is believed, while the 
Scriptures remain what they now are, and the mean- 
ing of words is the same. The truth of the doctrine 
which we are considering, may be regarded, there- 
fore, as resting upon an immoveable foundation. 
So long as there is any truth in the axiom, that 
things which are equal to the same, are equal to one 
another, so long may it be demonstrably shown from 
the inspired records, that the Father, Son, and Ho- 
ly Spirit, are equally divine, and consequently that 
the statement contained in this discourse is true. 


28 


Here we might close the argument, and proceed 
to discuss the practical importance of the doctrine of | 
the Trinity. But lest it should be supposed, that 
the conclusion to which we have come has been 
drawn without reference to the objections which are 
alleged by those who reject the doctrine, I will no- 
tice some of the principal of them, and examine how 
far they appear to rest upon a solid foundation. 

The objection, that the doctrine is absurd in it- 
self, being of the nature of a previous question, 
which must be settled before any direct testimony 
can be received, has been already considered, and, it 
is believed, shewn to be groundless so far as the state- 
ment in the present discourse is concerned. 

It is also objected, that there are many passages 
of Scripture in which Christ is represented as infe- 
rior to the Father; and that these are inconsistent 
with his Supreme Divinity. 

The passages to which reference is made are 
such as the following. “My Father is greater than 
1.—The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he 
seeth the Father do.—The Father loveth the Son 
and hath given all things into his hand.—All power 
is given unto me in heaven and in earth_—For there 
is one God and one Mediator between God and men, 
the man Christ Jesus.—God, who created all things 
by Jesus Christ—The Father judgeth no man, but 
hath commitied all judgment to the Son.—Of that 
day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels 


29 


which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the 
Father.—Then cometh the end, when he shall have 
delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father; 
BRP. and when all things shall be subdued unto him, 
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him 
that put all things under him, that God may be all 
in all.” 

It will not be doubted that these quotations ex- 
hibit the difficulty to which the objection refers, in as 
strong a light as any in the New Testament. They 
have been selected with this design. In what way 
then are these passages to be reconciled with those 
which ascribe divine attributes to Christ? 

Tn answer to this inquiry it is to be observed, 
that the Scriptures represent Christ as possessing an 
original and an assumed character. In the first place 
they assert that he existed and acted long before he 
appeared on earth. “Jesus said unto them, verily, 
verily, | say unto you, before Abraham was I am.— 
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own 
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the 
world was.” We are told also that Christ in his pre- 
existent state was Divine. “In the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God.” In the next place the Scriptures 
describe a great and wonderful change as having ta- 
ken place in the condition of Christ. The evangel- 


1 John 14: 28. 5: 19. 3: 35. Math, 28: 18. Eph. 3: 9. 5: 22. 1 Tim. 2: 5. 
Mark 13: 32. 1 Cor. 15: 24, 28. 


30 


ist John declares that the “ Word became flesh, and 
dwelt among us.” Paul says, “ And without contro- 
versy great is the mystery of godliness, God was 
manifest in the flesh.’—Other passages are more 
minute in the account which they give of this change. 
But no where is it more strongly avowed, or more 
fully exhibited, than in the followimg passage ; 
“ Who being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God; but made himself of 
no reputation, and took upon him the form of a ser- 
vant, and was made in the likeness of men; and be- 
ing found in fashion as a man he humbled himself, 
and became obedient unto death, even the death of 
the cross.””? 

Who does not perceive in these passages a two- 
fold description of the person of Christ, in which he 
is represented as possessing an original and an as- 
sumed character. But let this distinction be made, 
and the difficulty which has been referred to, ceases 
to exist. In his original character Christ is Divine, 
and is therefore represented as equal with the Father, 
in the numerous passages which have been brought 
to prove his Divinity. But in his asswmed character 
he is man and Mediator, and is accordingly repre- 
sented in other places as limited in knowledge and 
power, and as acting in subordination to the will of 
the Father. Asa man he is, and must be, inferior 


1 John 1:14. 1 Tim. 3:16, Phil. 2:6, '7. On thislast passage see Stu- 
art’s Letters to Channing. 


31 


to the Father in every thing which distinguishes 
the human from the Divine nature ; and he can have 
no knowledge of future events, and of course can 
have none of the day of judgment, any farther than 
it isrevealedto him. ‘To suppose that he can, would 
be to suppose either that human nature does not 
properly belong to him, or that a finite mind can, of 
itself, discern what is obvious only to the eye of om- 
niscience; neither of which is true.’ In like man- 
ner Christ, in his complex character of God and 
man, is invested by the Father with the office of 
Mediator, and is said to receive from him, a king- 
dom, and authority to govern the universe. It is in 
this character also that he is commissioned to exe- 
cute the work of redemption, to make atonement for 
sin, and to judge the world at the last day. All is 
done in subordination to the will of the Father; and 
when he shall have answered the ends for which 
this commission was given him, he will resign it, and 


1 We readily avow that we pretend not to know in what manner the 
divine and human natures, which we attribute to the Messiah, are united 
in his sacred person. We believe that in this respect especially ‘ his name 
is WoNDERFUL,’ and that ‘ no one knoweth the Son but the Father.” The 
Scriptures appear to us, on the one hand, to teach the existence of sucha 
union as produces a personal oneness; and, on the other, to exclude the 
notion of transmutation or confusion of the essential properties of either na- 
ture with respect to the other. It follows, that whatever communication of 
supernatural qualities, powers, or enjoyments, was made by the indwelling 
Divinity to ‘ the man Christ Jesus,’ it was made in various degrees, and on 
successive occasions, as the Divine Wisdom judged fit: and this necessary 
limitation would apply to ‘ times and seasons,’ which the Father has put in 
his own power, as well as to any other conceivable class of objects.”— 
Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, by John Pye Smith, D. D. yol. Il. p. 
340. London, 1821. 


32 


with it, the kingdom which he has received, that 
God may be all in all. In this manner the various 
classes of passages, which speak of our Saviour’s 
person and attributes, may be easily reconciled, and 
in no other way can they be. If Christ be not truly 
and properly Divine, no consistent explanation can 
be given of those passages which represent him as 
equal to the Father. If he be not also man and Me- 
diator, none can be given of those which speak of 
his subordination to the Father. But if both char- 
acters are allowed to be united in one complex per- 
son, all the passages harmonize with each other. 
Nor is the supposition of two natures in Christ, any 
more inadmissible, than the supposition ‘of two na- 
tures in man. If the attributes of animal and spiri- 
tual existence may be combined so as to form one 
person, who will say that it is beyond the reach of 
almighty power to combine human and divine at- 
tributes in the person of Jesus Christ? We speak 
of man as being mortal and immortal ; yet no one mis- 
takes our meaning; because when we speak of man 
as mortal, every one understands us to refer to his 
corporeal nature ; and when we speak of him as 7m- 
mortal, to his spiritual nature. Nor need the sacred 
writers be misapprehended, when they attribute two 
natures to Christ, and speak of him sometimes in ref- 
erence to one, and sometimes in reference to the 
other. aii 
Still it may be asked, if Christ is himself God, 


33 


how can God be said to have created the world by 
Christ? To this it may be answered, that it has al- 
ready been shown, that the distinction between the 
Father, Son, and Spirit, though not inconsistent with 
the Divine Unity, is nevertheless a real distinction, 
and such as lays the foundation for a relation of some 
kind between them. This relation, if expressed at 
all, must be expressed in the language of men. But 
it is manifest that all such language is inadequate to 
describe the precise nature of that relation ; and con- 
sequently must be regarded as the language of ap- 
proximation merely. The apostle John, as we have 
seen, says concerning Christ, “In the beginning was 
the Word (4oyos Logos), and the Word was witx 
God, and the Word was God. The same was in 
the beginning wita God.” Suppose now that this 
phraseology should be understood literally, might 
not the objector ask with the same propriety, if the 
Word was himself God, how could he be represent- 
ed as being with God? Every one must see that 
while a distinction of some kind is indicated by 
this language, the terms which express it are used 
in a peculiar and qualified sense. 

In like manner, when it is said that God created 
the world by Christ, the words are to be understood 
as referring to that pistincrion which exists in the 
Divine Nature, between the Father and the Son; 
and which, whether it consist in the order of opera- 


a 


34 


tion, or in something else, renders it proper to as- 
cribe the work of creation to the Divine Word or 
Logos, ina special sense. In accordance with this 
view of the subject is the representation of the evan- 
gelist John in the place referred to. “Inthe begin- 
ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. The same was in the begin- 
ning with God. All things (i.e. the universe’) were 
made sy Him; and wirHouT Him was not any thing 
made which was made....... The world was made 
BY HIM...... And the Word (Logos) was made flesh, 
and dwelt among us; and we beheld uis glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the raruer, full of 
grace and truth.” ‘Two things are here ‘manifest: 
the writer distinguishes between the Father and the 
Word or Logos ; and he ascribes creation directly 
to the latter—that is, he ascribes it to God, as the 
Logos. Itis doubtless with reference to the same 
distinction, that God is said to create the world sy 
the Logos or Christ. 

Let the remarks which have now been offered 
be attentively considered, and it will be seen that the 
doctrine of the Trinity, instead of being open to the 
objection which has been discussed, is the only sys- 
tem which effectually obviates that objection, since 
it is the only one which corresponds with the entire 
representation of the Scriptures themselves. 


1 Gr. ra mavre. For this use of the phrase, see Wahl’s Lex. by 
Robinson, Art. 6, 7, 76 Il. A. 2. a. 0. 


35 


The use of the word “ person” as applied to the 
Trinity has given rise to an objection of another 
kind. It has seemed to those who make the objec- 
tion, to imply the existence of three distinct Gods; 
as when applied to men it denotes a separate, con- 
scious being. But it should be remembered that 
the meaning of this, like that of every other word, is 
entirely arbitrary. It may signify more or less, ac- 
cording to the design of those who use it. As ap- 
plied to the Trinity, it denotes simply, that in the 
Divine Nature, be it what it may, which lays the 
foundation for ascribing the characteristics of the true 
God to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spir- 
it, and for applying to each the personal pronouns, 
I, thou, and he. For this purpose, it is perhaps as 
convenient a word as any other. Still it is not a 
term of Scripture, and may be used or not, according 
to each one’s views of its propriety. All that is ne- 
cessary is, that some word or phrase be adopted to 
express the distinction which has been mentioned, 
and that when “ person” is thus used, it be clearly 
understood, that it is employed not in an ordinary, 
but in a special and qualified sense. Notwithstand- 
ing, to show that the doctrine is independent of this 
word, and may be discussed without it, it is not us- 
ed in the present discourse. 

Should it after all be objected, that the subject is 
mysterious, and therefore not to be believed ; it is 
admitted that so far as the explanation of the fact 


36 


which it teaches is concerned, it is above the com- 
prehension of human minds. We acknowledge that 
what we have to present on this subject is not theo- 
ry, but fact; not explanation, but evidence. Is it 
however rational, is it safe, to reject a fact which is 
supported by good evidence, merely because we 
cannot explain it? If so, then there are many facts 
relating to the character and government of God, 
which may be disbelieved, though God himself has 
testified to the truth of them. Nor may we stop 
here. The natural world presents innumerable phe- 
nomena, which no human intellect can explain, and 
which, therefore, we may disbelieve, though we have 
the testimony of our senses to their reality. A prin- 
ciple which leads to such conclusions can have no 
claim to confidence ; and no objection founded upon 
it is worthy of aserious and enlightened mind. The 
only question to be decided is, Do the Scriptures, in- 
terpreted according to the established principles of 
language, teach that there is in the Divine Nature 
such a distinction as has been mentioned? If they 
do, there is no alternative but to admit the fact, or to 
deny that the Bible is the word of God. 

I am aware how common it is to plead the sim- 
plicity of other views of the Divme Nature, as a rea- 
son for rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity. But 
let us not be deceived. There is a simplicity which 
is not of the Gospel. No religion is more simple, 
none more opposed to every thing like mystery. 


37 


than Deism. Yet Deism is not the religion of the 
Gospel. It was not thus that Paul reasoned on this 
most profound of subjects. Neither the unbelief of 
the Jew, nor the learning and philosophy of the 
Greek, could prevent him from saying wherever he 
went, “Without controversy great is the mystery 
of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh.” To 
follow such an example cannot but be safe. It is at 
least wise. 

But there need be no difficulty in comprehend- 
ing this doctrine, so far as correct views are neces- 
__sary to correct practice. We have only to remember 
the offices which are sustained, or the works which 
are performed, by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, 
to acknowedge them in those offices and works, and 
to pay them the honours which are due to their di- 
vine character. No matter how illiterate a man may 
be, he can understand the ract, that we have access 
to the Father, through the mediation of the Son, and 
by the aid of the Spirit; and this is the substance 
of the doctrine of the Trinity, considered in its rela- 
tions to our duty and happiness. Christians may 
adopt whatever methods of explanation and illustra- 
tions they please; these should never be made the 
standard of a Scriptural faith. The great and visible 
bond of their union should consist in acknowledging 
the fact, that supreme and divine honours are due to 
the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, and 
in a correspondent practice. 


38 


III. It remains to point out the strate Mi 
tance of the doctrine which has been discussed. 

Were it not that the subject is one of great prac- 
tical interest, it is difficult to conceive why it should 
occupy so prominent a place in the Scriptures. The 
design of revelation is not to amuse men with curi- 
ous speculations, but to teach them their duty. It 
might therefore be inferred from the fact, that so 
much is said concerning the divine character of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that the doc- 
trine of the Trinity which teaches their union in the 
Divine Nature is of fundamental importance. A few 
considerations, which is all that the limits of the dis- 
course admit, will show that such is its real charac- 
ter. 

In the first place, it is essentially connected with 
the question of religious worship. If there be a sub- 
ject of deep and solemn moment, it is this. ‘There 
can be but one lawful object of religious worship, 
because there is but one only living and true God. 
He who worships any other being, or who does not 
worship God according to his true character, is an 
idolater, and must answer for an offence which is 
every where represented in the Scriptures as one of 
great criminality. If then it be important that we 
know to whom our religious homage is due; if we 
would avoid the sin of idolatry and not worship an 
imaginary Deity, it is our duty to believe the doc- 
trine of the Trinity and conform our practice to it ; 


39 


since any other God than that which it lanes is 
not the God of the Scriptures. 

There can be no middle path here. - Either 
there is great error and sin in receiving the doctrine 
of the Trinity; or there is great error and sin in re- 
jecting it. The subject renders every thing like 
compromise impossible. Every one will indeed 
judge for himself, and to his own master will stand 
or fall. But it is plain, that those who adopt and 
those who reject the views which it gives of the 
Supreme Being, possess different and opposite reli- 
gions, and so far as relates to this point, can have 
no concord either in their faith or worship. 

In the second place, the importance of the doc- 
trine will appear yet more manifest, if we consider 
the necessary connexion which it holds with other 
truths and facts revealed in the Scriptures. To se- 
lect but a single point for illustration. How differ- 
ent must be the views which men form of the media- 
tion of Christ, particularly of the greatness and mor- 
al value of those sacrifices which he made for the 
salvation of men, of his all sufficiency to save, and 
of his intercession, according as they believe or re- 
ject the doctrine of his real and proper Divinity 2 
How is it possible to attach the same moral dignity | 
to the actions and sufferings of one who is merely 
created or human, as of one whois also Divine? 
Who therefore will say, that the moral influence ex- 

-erted by Jesus Christ is not most deeply affected by 


40 


the manner in which this great article of our faith 
is determined? It is not too much to say, that this 
single circumstance makes an infinite difference 
in the character of him, whom we are to acknowl- 
edge as our Saviour, and that it may lay a foumda- 
tion for an infinite difference in the method by which 
we apprehend that our salvation is to be accomplish- 
ed. Particularly is it true, that whatever views af- 
fect the dignity of Christ’s person, affect in the same 
degree his qualifications to make an atonement for 
sin; and the nearly universal rejection of this last 
doctrine, by those who reject the Divinity of Christ, 
proves that they are likely to stand or fall together. 

I might.mention other topics, which are inti- 
mately connected with the subject of this discourse, 
and show how strongly they influence both our feel- 
ings andconduct; I might dwell, in particular, on the 
effect which it must have on our devotions, and espe- 
cially on our addresses to Christ, to regard him as 
possessed of infinite perfections ; but what has been 
said is sufficient to show the great importance of the 
doctrine which has been discussed, as an article of 
faith. ' 

I add thirdly, that it is no less deeply connected 
with our hopes as immortal beings. If the worship 
of the only true God has any thing to do with our 
present character, or our future prospects; if it can 
have any influence on the question of our accep- 
tance with God, whether we trust in Christ as the 


41 


great atoning sacrifice for sinners, or rely upon 
some other ground for pardon and eternal life; 
then is the doctrine of the Trinity at the foundation 
of our hopes as immortal beings. Nor should it be 
forgotten, that if we refuse this way of salvation 
which God has provided through his Son, “there 
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.” ‘There is but 
one Saviour, and one way of salvation. If we mis- 
take here, our error is, or may be, fatal. In like 
manner, if we renounce the Holy Spirit, we have no 
other Sanctifier, Comforter, nor Guide. We reject 
the appointed and only efficient agent of regenera- 
tion, of progressive holiness, and of inward and spir- 
itual blessedness. Of such importance is the doc- 
trine which has been considered. All that is most 
material to our worship, to our faith, and to our 
hopes, is involved in it. 

In view of the evidence which has been present- 
ed in support of this great article of revealed religion, 
we may learn, my brethren, how little it has to fear 
from the spirit of deep and earnest investigation, 
which the present age has awakened. If there be 
a sentiment of the Bible which invites inquiry on 
the ground of evidence, it is the doctrine of the 
Trinity. It is built on no preconceived opinions of 
the mode of the divine existence. It is derived 
purely from testimony. If the Scriptures are di- 
vinely inspired, the declarations which they contain 

6 


42 


may be regarded as ultimate facts, having the same 
relation to moral, which the phenomena of nature 
have to physical, science. The doctrine of the Trin- 
ity being shown to be a fair inference from these dec- 
larations, can therefore no more be shaken by in- 
vestigation, than the theory of Newton concerning 
the visible universe. ; 
What strong ground of hope and consolation 
have they who have made this God their refuge! 
An everlasting Father and Friend; an infinite Sa- 
viour, and an almighty Sanctifier, united in accom- 
plishing their salvation, and engaged to make them 
completely and forever blessed. What a guarantee 
of ultimate safety and happiness is this; and how is 
it possible to contemplate it, but with wonder and 
joy! | 
Who then can estimate the consequences of re- 
jecting a doctrine, supported by such evidence, and 
involving such interests? Are any of you, my hear- 
ers, tempted to do this? Consider whether your 
doubts arise from having carefully and thoroughly 
studied the Scriptures, accompanied with frequent 
and earnest prayer to God for divine teaching; or, 
whether it be not for some other reasons, which will 
be less satisfactory to you in the day of final account. 
The responsibility which is assumed by such a re- 
jection, may well awaken the deepest solicitude. 
Expunge the evidence which the Bible furnishes 
of the truth of the doctrine, and you blot out the 


43 


light of revelation, and cover its pages with chaotic 
darkness. Shut out the trembling, anxious sinner 
from that divine refuge which is here provided for 
him, and you bid him trust in an arm of flesh, 
though the curse of heaven is denounced against 
the man who does it. But this is not all. You 
hush the still, small voice of that Spirit, which 
speaks to his soul and convinces him of sin. No 
breath of spiritual life passes through the valley of 
death ; and no Star of Bethlehem arises to guide the 
inquiring mind to Jesus. 

_ Soon the veil which now hides these invisible 
glories will be removed; and then all who are per- 
mitted to enter into heaven, will doubtless, with one 
heart and voice, ascribe “ blessmg and honour, and 
glory and power, unto Him who sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lams.” Then will it be known, 
by blissful experience, what it is to enjoy “ the grace 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
the communion of the Holy Ghost,” for ever and 
ever, 


Abbie 


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GOD, THE ETERNAL SUPPORT.” 


Cc. D. BRADLEE, 


« 
PASTOR OF THE 


“CHURCH AT HARRISON SQUARE, BOSTON. MACS, 


PREACHED 


SEPT. 5, 1886, 


SUNDAY SERVICE AFTER THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE, AND AFTER 
ae HE DEATH OF NATHANIEL TUCKER, AND SEWELL E. PAUNCE.* 


: BOSTON: 
“Press ov Gro. E. Topp & CO., HARRISON SQUARE. 
- = 1886- 


“GOD, THE ETERNAL SUPPORT.” 


Underneath are the Everlasting Arms.—DEUT. 33: 27. 


BPERMON 


BY 
Cc. D. BRADLEE, 


PASTOR OF THE 


‘CHURCH AT HARRISON SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS., 


PREACHED 


=e r.. 5,' 1886, 


ON THE FIRST SUNDAY SERVICE AFTER THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE, AND AFTER 
THE DEATH OF NATHANIEL TUCKER, AND SEWELL E. FAUNCE,* 


Nore—*Young Faunce was instantly killed at Tuckerman's Ravine, Saturday, July 24, 1886. 


BOSTON: 
PREss OF GEO. E. Topp & Co., HARRISON SQUARE. 
1886. 


SERMON. 


UNDERNEATH ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS.—Deut. 33: 27. 


I HARDLY know what any of us would do, were it not for 


> 


the fact that “underneath are the everlasting arms,” for 
in cases of doubt, distress, danger, extreme want, heavy 
sickness and seeming death, what Azan arm would suffice 
to hold us up? And is not the discipline of each one of 
us, whilst we dwell upon the earth, extremely varied, so 
that no one can pass through life without surprise, trouble, 
shame, and defeat? Of course I know that there are times 
in the history of all of us, when the everlasting arms hardly 
seem to be needed, or craved, or allowed; when human 
strength appears to be enough, native wit sufficient, one’s 
own right arm all conquering, and the human will, and work, 
and success, are called all in all; when victory comes with 
hardly an effort; prizes seem to be wrenched from time; 
and the days are slaves to the magician’s wand, that seems to 


¥ 


be made and used by one’s own desire ; when wealth, friends, 
prosperity, power, and everything materially good, seem to 
be mortgaged to the possessor at a huge interest against the 
power of a foreclosure ; when God is sometimes forgotten, 
heaven ignored, self alone worshipped, and a philosophy 
woven out of one’s own brain is the object of adoration, 
approval, and boast. Well, even then, in this hour of 
assumed personal ability, I declare on the ground of phil_ 
osophy alone, that ‘underneath are the everlasting arms,” 
that is, unless when prosperous we rise up and say that we 
are self-created ; that we have existed from all eternity; 
and that we have an everlasting earthly inheritance ! 


So that, just here, where we find denial of God, selfsuffi- 
ciency, and human autocracy, I claim that just as long 
as there is mortality, there must be a power behind the 
throne, although unconfessed, and profaned, and set aside. 
But there comes a day when “all is not gold that glitters ;” 
when the power of the material becomes crippled; when 
riches take wings and fly away; or health becomes muffled, 
or broken ; or strength departs ; or utter prostration appears ; 
or seeming death is at hand; and thus, I say, at such times 
we all become insufficient, and empty, and wretched, and ery 
out for the arms that are underneath, that have always been 
holding us up, that have never been withdrawn, although so 
constantly ignored. 

It. is sometimes one of the strongest evidences of the 
living God when some proud spirit, some man of immense 
wealth, who has for years defied heaven and earth, who 
has seemed to trample upon human rights all the time; 


—- 


5 


who has used the world as a sponge uses water, to gather 
up all that can be held; who has become a huge receiver, 
but never a giver, finds some day the material wrecked, and 
that which seemed everlasting, but a vapor, and loses all 
that was called a support; when such an one, a Croesus 
so long, but thoroughly bereft at last, calls upon a God 
that never before was named, and wants, in the crushing 
experience, “the everlasting arms.’ We may say, in our 
surprise, why did not that proud spirit find out, in the 
days of such great bounty, the holy Giver of splendid 
gifts, and zzex make the life a glory, a peace, and a sacred 
power ? and why did such an one wait till the days of dark- 
ness before finding the true light ? and yet let us be glad, 
even at the eleventh hour, the soul cried out, “ Lead me to 
the rock that is higher than I.” 


But how much nobler the character that, whether in pros- 
perity or in adversity, never forgets the everlasting support ; 
that uses wealth, power, position, and influence, all as gifts, 
loans, and trusts, holding the same as a steward, and dispens- 
ing the same, like the gentle rain of heaven for no mere 
personal benefit ; and ready when the call comes, without 
a protest, to render back the trust, and knowing, even in 
emptiness, that “underneath are the everlasting arms.” 
How with this faith, one seemingly bereft of all, yet pos- 
sesses all, and stands upon a rock that can never be under- 
mined. , If sickness should come, there is no rebellion ; or 
pain, there is no distrust of the Almighty ; or if seeming 
death is at hand, still the face and heart are bright, and the 


splendors of celestial lights glorify the soul, so that the 


6 


house, the chamber, and the bed, are found to be places of 
worship, and the music of the heavenly choir can be per- 
petually heard. 

“ Underneath are the everlasting arms.” These words 
seem to light up the past, the present and the future. All ” 
history is a splendid testimony to the perpetual guardianship 
of a never-sleeping Providence. Take the centuries in parts, 
like stones in a mosaic, and events will seem tangled, rough, 
unsuggestive and useless, having but little marks of a super- 
intending wisdom, devoid entirely of beauty, or order, or 
power, and we frequently must exclaim why this? why that? 
where was God at the time? But put the centuries together, 
read them together, see how each stone fits into the other 
stone, and all the stones combined make an impressive pict- 
ure, speaking of a glorious artist, and at once, our hallelujahs 
rise up to the great King of kings. 

Year by year, little seems to be done, and much seems to be 
undone, and events dance forward and back, as if driven by 
relentless chance, and even take each hundred years alone, 
and we are puzzled by the record, but put eighteen centuries 
together, then al] the inhabitants of the earth and heaven 
must perforce sing aloud, ‘Glory be to the Father, Son and 
Holy Ghost, now and forever.” So now, when we are puzzled, 
this very day, when events seem to be tangled; when skep- 
ticism and socialism, and materialism, seem to have the upper 
hand ; when we sometimes feel that the guiding love of God 
is withdrawn, and that chaos will overwhelm us ; when auto- 
cratic Russia stands dazed, and pleasure-loving France is stu- 
pefied, and philosophical Germany isin doubt, and intellec- 


tual England is distressed, and liberty-loving America is 


bewildered ; even xow, if we will, we can find underneath the 
disturbance the Everlasting Arms, and nothing can really 
withstand the control of the Almighty. 

So for the future, we need not be afraid, for God still lives, 
will never die, from everlasting to everlasting will still be 
God, and He will put all the rough stones together and polish 
them, and make a mosaic that will be the wonder of all eter- 


nity, and we cannot outvote the blessed King of kings. If it 


‘were not for this great truth as I looked towards the future, I 


should become almost overpowered by my despair, as I see 
day by day, and ever increasing, the insolence of the sich, the 
tyranny of the poor, the self sufficiency of the unbeliever, the 


selfishness of humanity, and the fatal blows so constantly 


give? to honor, integrity and holiness. Andas we thus behold 
the power of sin growing, we feel like saying with Bishop 
Heber : 


“ From foes that would the land devour, 
From guilty pride and lust of power, 
From wild sedition’s lawless hour, 

From yoke of slavery ; 
From blinded zeal by faction led, 
From giddy change by fancy bred, 
From poisonous error’s serpent head, 
Good Lord, preserve us free.” 


And then we say with Zihn: 


“ God liveth ever, 
Wherefore soul, despair thou never, 
Our God is good, in every place 
His love is known, His help is found, 
His mighty arm and tender grace 
Bring good from ills that hem us round. 
Easier than we think can He 
Turn to joy our agony, ; 
Soul, remember mid thy pains, 
God, o’er all, forever reigns.” 


“ Underneath are the everlasting arms.” B 
this statement should not be true; suppose 
no God, and no everlasting arms, and no sw 


we are all balanced on a straw over a precipice, 


tion! What then? Why then, all our instincts 
take ; then all life is a series = contra ae 


be ce than chance itself . 
- Now which alternative shall we take? Shall we | 
derneath the everlasting arms forever and ever, in 
in eternity? or shall we say that a senseless pow 
beings greater than itself, and then after givi “) t 
the ability to scale heaven with their thought, 
them at last to eternal oblivion ? 
Choose each and all. 
“Underneath are the everlasting arms.” 
seem to me especially befitting as we gather together 
church after a long rest, and take up our works a 
-freshed, strengthened, consecrated and convinced, 
more sure than ever before, that underneath are | 
ing arms. For many weeks, in my mental vision, 
way into the depths of the mountains ; huge rocks have 
on my side, a deep ravine close by, an arch, with tons 


nes, 
ats 


a? 
4, 
FS 


fat ot 


snow, hanging with wondrous beauty close at hand, and five 
dear ones, who have worshipped in this church, have seemed 
to gaze at the glorious works of God. What joy for the eye ; 
what a peace for the heart, what a sacred lesson for the mem- 
ory, what a foretaste of heaven! But soon four of the num- 
ber leave the spot where the glory was the greatest, and but 
one stands in his youthful beauty, his noble courage, his 
cheerful faith, stands with kindling eye, and throbbing heart, 
and eloquent voice, when all at once the chariot of the Lord 
comes and wraps in a mantle of white that young man, and 
he is translated from the earthly mountains to the mountains 
of God in heaven, and those, but a few minutes before at the 
very spot where he was taken, gaze like the prophet of old, 
at the ascending angel, and although they cannot see his 
form, know that underneath are the everlasting arms—under- 
neath him, underneath them, un‘erneath us all, promoting 
him and sparing them awhile, but in God’s good time, if we 
are faithful, lifting us all up to the city of the New Jeru- 
salem. 

I will not dwell longer upon that scene which must dwell 
with some of you as long as you breathe the breath of life. 
I will not speak more of my vision, whzch to some of you 
was such a terrible reality, but I will earnestly try to assure 
you, and myself, and all the earth, that “underneath are the. 


’ 


everlasting arms;"’ underneath the aged one so patient 
in his sickness, so grateful to the dear ones who cared for 
him so gently, and so ready to go if God ordered; over 
whose form I offered the prayer for help on the last Sunday 


we met in this church ; underneath the boy who was just 


,. 
* ys i : 


10 


beginning to be a man, as he was suddenly caught up to 


heaven; underneath his companions who were spared 
awhile to dwell with us; and underneath the world, and 
all the inhabitants thereof. Yes, forever and forever are 
everlasting arms of God holding us up, for he has given his 
glorious promise through the words of the blessed Redeemer: 
“Lo, Iam with you always, even unto the end of the 
world.” 

Yet, after all that we have said, we have just within a 
few days, through a large portion of the United States, 
passed through an experience that might seem to set aside 
forever the comforting doctrine that “underneath are the 
everlasting arms.” Indeed to many it must have seemed 
that all eternal support had been withdrawn, and that every- 
thing solid had disappeared, as the earth began to shake, 
and buildings commenced to fall, and fire offered its too 
friendly fellowship, and multitudes of people were filled with 
alarm, and prostrated in prayer, whilst hearts were broken, 
and many souls went suddenly out of their earthly tene- 
ment! Where, then, were the “Everlasting Arms?” Did 
the people of Charleston, and Cleveland, and Washington, 
and Savannah, and other cities, find God at their side when 
everything else seemed to be slipping away? Yes; then, 
closer than ever were the “ Everlasting Arms ”’ around every 
mortal body and every anguished soul, and many who never 
prayed before, bore powerful testimony to this great truth 
when they cried out, ““God have mercy upon us,’ and 
uttered other piteous appeals to the great King of kings, 
because then there was a clear confession that God was 


11 


near, and that God alone could help; and just as long as we 
all have such a support, earthquakes cannot destroy us; fire 
cannot burn us up; tidal waves cannot submerge us; and no 
earthly power can put us down, or put us out, for the 


spiritual body can never be destroyed, and the heart that 
rests on God can never be broken ! 


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